Truth and Secrecy
by Sakya
Summary: Betrayed and imprisoned, Harry discovers who is who in his life. Slash, MPreg.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Truth and Secrecy.  
**Author: **Sakya  
**Summary: **Betrayed and imprisoned, Harry discovers who is who in his life.  
**Rating: **Oh, my! I'm horrible at this one… but I'd have to go with "R", for now.  
**Pairing(s): **Harry/Draco  
**Feedback: **Yes, please.  
**Characters: **At one point or another, the whole crew from the HP Universe.  
**Beta: **The beautiful Rose.  
**Author's notes: **I'm correcting some mistakes and trying to pick up the habit of writing again. I won't make any promises since it's a compromise with myself to keep on writing, but I have to say thank you to all of you who read my fics and encouraged me to continue. This one, and all the others, is for you.  
**Disclaimer: **Nope, not mine and not profitable… for me, that is. I've heard rumors that J. K. Rowling is doing terribly well, but she writes the originals, maybe it has something to do with that… Oh! And also, everything (but the misguided idea that originated this fic) belongs to her.

**Chapter 01**

Harry sighed in relief; his mind was finally clearing. Not too much though, certainly never enough for him to forget the fear, the screams, or gather some coherence. In a way, it was better this way, never being able to think too much about his friends… his friends.

Now that was a big joke. Friends.

He should have known better. He should have seen it coming a long time before it actually happened, but when it did happen, it happened so fast he couldn't even remember all the details now. His last moments with his so called friends, it was a bit hazy now, blurry around the edges. He did remember the screaming, especially when the dementors came. He could always hear the screams.

Harry absently ran his finger over a small tattoo over his heart. It was hidden underneath his battered robe and he almost forgot it was there: a little Celtic knot tattooed on his heart. He knew it was something important, but he couldn't remember what it was. Maybe if the dementors stayed away long enough this time… maybe he would be able to remember.

There were a few things he could remember, the angry faces of his former friends: Ron being held back by the twins screaming that he would kill him if he ever got the chance; Hermione looking at him with her eyes full of contempt and anger; Molly crying in Arthur's arms screaming "how could you? We treat you like a son"; Remus, Dean, Seamus and so many others looking at him with hate; Draco crying at the end of the hall. Draco.

A small memory found its way back to the surface. Draco. His beautiful, beloved Draco. His secret. Draco wanted to come forward; Harry had seen it in his eyes, but Harry wouldn't let him. Draco was his secret and if Lucius Malfoy ever found out, Draco would be dead. They had given it a lot of thought when they had decided to give their relationship a chance and decided that Lucius should never find out, no matter what, that they were together. Even after they bonded in a secret ceremony, represented by the tattoos over their hearts, nobody would ever know anything until they graduated and were ready to start their lives.

That was why Harry kept his silence; he kept it for Draco, while Draco was alive everything would be all right. As long as Draco was alive, Harry's heart would be free. Harry caressed the tattoo over his heart and for the first time in weeks he was able to smile.

----------

It had been a shock to the Wizarding World. The Daily Prophet ran the whole story for days. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, had raped and murdered the baby sister of his best friend. Ginny Weasley was found in a back alley behind an apothecary in Hogsmeade, her cold hand firmly clasped around a Gryffindor tie, and on that tie a small name tag that read 'Harry Potter'.

Ministry Fudge immediately demanded that Harry be brought in for questioning after he refused to say where he had been all day, and the Daily Prophet ran long interviews with the grieving family, especially her closest brother Ronald Weasley and his girlfriend Hermione Granger, former friends of Harry Potter who attested to how much he had changed in the last few months and how cruelly he treated Ginny, who had been in love with him even before she attended Hogwarts. They also brought to the ministry's attention the fact that no Veritaserum potion would work on Mr. Potter due to his ability to throw off even _Imperius_ Curse.

They never asked him again where he was the day of the crime. They never considered the use of Veritaserum and they never gave him a trial either. They simply accused him and threw him in Azkaban on a beautiful sunny day at the end of May. Harry Potter was 15 years old.

-----------

In the end it was an old, almost forgotten tradition that helped Draco Malfoy rescue his love. Azkaban was a hard place to be, but the Wizarding World liked to keep its illusion of fairness, and an old law, passed with that very intention, stated that in certain cases the dementors were to be kept away from a specific type of prisoner, when a different kind of magical creature would be brought to take care of the said prisoner for a certain period of time. That was why on the last week of school Draco Malfoy found himself face-to-face with an ex-servant of the Malfoy Manor.

"Master Draco sir," called a shaky voice from the corner of Draco's room.

"What do you want, elf?" Draco snorted.

"I is Dobby, sir. I has message about Harry Potter." The elf was holding a piece of parchment in his hands, offering it to Draco.

"And why are you delivering it to me?" Draco asked worried.

"The law says to gives it to other father. You is other father, sir." Dobby's eyes were wide.

"Other father?" asked Draco snatching the paper from the elf and reading it. "Oh, Merlin. Have mercy! Oh, gods. What do I do now?" Draco sank to his knees, tears falling from his eyes. "He is pregnant? How can he be pregnant? Does he have any idea how rare that gift is? Oh! Harry, why is this sort of thing always happening to you?" He finally remembered the house-elf, "How did you find out?"

"Master Draco, sir"--the elf was twisting his hands--"wizards have law that scary dementors have to leave pregnant prisoners alone. House-elf takes care of great Harry Potter and Harry Potter's baby, but other father must know…"

"Yes, I'll do everything to make sure the baby is taken care of; I wish I could do the same for Harry," Draco sobbed.

"Master Draco… Dobby should not say, Dobby not suppose to save Harry Potter's life again. Dobby promised…"

Draco spun around. "Do you know something, Dobby?"

"Dobby good elf, sir, Dobby promised!" The elf had tears in his eyes now and was pulling his own ears.

"It's ok, Dobby, you won't be saving his life if you tell me. Just tell me and I will do everything, you won't break your promise."

"Is…is… is apothecary in Hogsmeade very big, sir, very dangerous things inside. Dangerous things need wards for special conditions for not hurting wizards or witches…" but Draco never let Dobby finished his sentence.

"Not hurt pregnant witches! Every time a pregnant witch comes near a ward alerts the people inside so they don't expose the baby to dangerous fumes… Dobby, you are the greatest house-elf that ever lived, and if Harry hadn't set you free already, I would do it now. Thank you!" Draco yelled as he ran out the door. Dobby beamed with pride and popped back to the kitchens; he had a lot to do today.

Draco ran to the only person besides himself he knew who did not believe that Harry committed any murder. It never ceased to amuse him that this person was none other than his godfather, Severus Snape, who Draco also knew to be a spy in the Dark Lord's ranks.

"Professor, we need to talk," Draco said as he barged in the professor's office.

"And what, pray tell, could be so important that has you running into my office at this late hour?" asked Snape without raising his head from the papers he was grading.

"Potter is innocent and I can prove it," panted Draco, shoving the paper Dobby had given him on top of the pile in front of the professor.

That got the professor's attention. "Close the door and explain it to me."

-----------

It took Draco only ten minutes to convince Snape. He told him everything about his relation to Harry, the bonding tattoos, the baby, the wards and Harry's sacrifice for Draco. Snape believed every word that he said.

It took Snape two hours to convince Draco to tell Lucius about it and, even as Draco grabbed hold to the portkey that would take him and Snape to Malfoy Manor, he could not stop wondering if he hadn't just forfeited his life.

----------

"Lucius!" Snape yelled in the Malfoy parlor where the portkey had taken them. 

"Severus, what brings you here at this hour?" Lucius Malfoy entered the parlor from a side door that led to the library. "Draco. What is the matter?"

"Father," Draco began after getting a reassurance look from his godfather, "there is something I think I need to tell you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

Lucius Malfoy had always been proud of his connections and the amount of information and cooperation he was able to gather in a short amount of time. This time, it was no different. He set a meeting with Fudge to discuss some matter or another--it really didn't make a difference, the important thing was the timing--and that was why Lucius managed to find himself with Amelia Bones, chief of the Wizarding Court, in one of the ministry elevators.

"Madame Bones," he offered, "how delightful to meet you." Lucius extended his hand to her.

"Lord Malfoy," The witch returned with a frown; she didn't like the fact that the Malfoys were able to get away with almost anything due to their influence and money.

Unfortunately, she couldn't simply ignore his hand, so she took it and held her head high as he raised her hand and kissed her fingers. She was surprised to feel a paper being pressed into her hand and held on to it. Whatever it was, it was important and Lucius Malfoy was going to a lot of trouble to make sure she got it without anybody else noticing.

They got off on the same floor and went different ways without a second glance at each other. 

Amelia Bones waited until she was safely locked in her office before looking at whatever Lucius Malfoy had placed in her hands. It was the note that would change the course of history and her view on the most influential wizard family. If what was written in that note was true, Harry Potter was innocent.

"_Dear Madame,_

It has come to my attention that a grave error has been committed and it would be in the interest of the whole Wizarding World to see that it is repaired.

As you well remember last month Harry James Potter was convicted of the murder of one Ginevra Weasley behind an apothecary in Hogsmeade. I happen to know that the store in question has wards to alert of the presence of any unborn child as the fumes and residues may cause harm to either the baby or the mother. Imagine my surprise when I learned that no ward went off on the day of the murder, which I find very strange because Harry Potter is pregnant with my grandchild.

Please note that this information is a secret that may cost the lives of all of us. The general public must not know of it in hopes that certain individuals do not learn about it as well.

I do hope that a discreet investigation and an even more discreet trial may correct this injustice until the present danger is dealt with and a public pardon to Mr. Potter is issued. 

Sincerely,  
Your friend"

Amelia Bones let out the breath she had been holding. She could see how dangerous the situation was: someone had framed Harry Potter (if what the note said was true – she had a feeling it was) and accusations had come even from his best friends… there was no way to know who was the culprit of that set-up. Fudge was still denying the return of the Dark Lord and, because of the matter of politics and avoiding panic, she was forced to play along. Malfoy was right: discretion was the best course of action.

A knock on the door caught her attention. It was her secretary saying that Fudge was requesting her presence in his office. Amelia smiled. Malfoy was already pushing the man's buttons to see his will done. Well, as long as it was for the best, she would play along.

-----------

In the end, it took less than five days to have the investigation and the hearing completed.

Fudge was all for discretion. If the Wizarding World knew that he was responsible for the wrongful imprisonment of the Boy-Who-Lived he could kiss his job good bye. Fortunately, none of the others wanted to make a big deal out of it, and he was just too happy to wonder why. The best part, of course, was that Dumbledore would never know his boy-hero was free and out of his reach. Fudge smirked, he could turn this whole thing around in his favor yet.

Amelia Bones wasn't very happy; sure an innocent child was out of Azkaban--Merlin only knew how many nights that fact had kept her awake, a 15 year old boy sent to that hell without even a trial--but she couldn't help consider the price they might be paying. Harry Potter was being released to the hands of Lucius Malfoy; weren't they releasing the boy from one hell just to throw him into another?

The double doors from the room opened to let Lucius and Draco Malfoy enter in the company of Severus Snape, potion master and teacher at Hogwarts. Now everybody that was supposed to be there had arrived: Fudge, Bones, the Malfoys and Severus Snape, although he was a surprise.

"Gentlemen, if we may begin," called Amelia Bones, indicating the men to sit at the large oval table. "We are here to discuss the matter of the imprisonment of Mr. Harry Potter. Since no official complaint has been issued against Mr. Potter, this is just a hearing for the conclusion of the investigation. Pending on the findings of this hearing, we shall set a date for a trial, or release Mr. Potter with our sincere apologies."

Those were the conditions agreed upon: Amelia would not press for a public hearing because Fudge had agreed to a proper trial in case of any doubts about Potter's innocence; Fudge had agreed to this hearing because of the pressure the Malfoys were applying and because in case of Potter's innocence being proved he wouldn't look like an incompetent monster before the public; and the Malfoys had agreed with a formal hearing to appease Amelia Bones; and she had given her word that she would not divulge the news about Harry's pregnancy to anybody, not even Fudge. All she would tell the idiot was that the wards at the alley had proven that Potter was nowhere near there when the crime was committed.

They all sat around the table, leaving the chairs at the end of the table closest to the door empty. After they sat three Aurors, whom Fudge knew for a fact were not reporting back to Dumbledore or the Dark Lord (how he managed to be sure of that Amelia could never figure out), brought Harry Potter in.

Lucius and Severus had to physically restrain Draco from going to him. Harry looked like hell: he had obviously lost weight, his clothes were dirty and torn, he was pale and could barely stand.

"Please be seated Mr. Potter," Madame Bones asked and the Aurors helped Harry to a chair isolated from the rest.

Harry was barely aware of what was going on. The last few days hadn't been so hard: the dementors seemed to be keeping a distance from him, and he was very grateful for it. A house-elf had even shown up with half-decent food and now, for what he could understand, he was going to be heard! They had taken him out of Azkaban to be heard.

"_Dumbledore must have found a way to set me free. They didn't abandon me._" But he couldn't make out the shape of anybody without his glasses. He narrowed his eyes trying to focus. "_Wait, I know that hair, nobody has blond hair like that except… oh, Merlin, there are two of them. Lucius! Oh, no, Lucius found out. He has Draco… Is he throwing Draco in Azkaban with me? What for? Draco didn't do anything._"

Harry started to panic; he had to save Draco. What could he do? He tried to discover who else was in the room and what was going on; maybe he could come up with something to save Draco at least. He started to pay attention to what the woman was saying.

"…therefore it is the finding of the investigation that the wards protecting the apothecary did not accuse anybody with Mr. Potter's particular magic signature coming anywhere near that alley on the day of the murder in question, nor on the two days prior to that, or the two days after the fact. The conclusion of the investigation, officially signed by two Aurors and one curse breaker sworn by this ministry, is that Mr. Potter is in no way involved with the unfortunate and untimely demise of Miss Weasley."

"_Did she just say that I'm innocent? Is it possible? Is this nightmare over?_" Harry could not believe what he had just heard, but the woman went on and he forced himself to listen just in case they decided it was all a joke, or found another reason to send him back to prison.

"It is my duty to remind all present in this room that this is an open case of murder and the investigation is still going, so I must ask all of you not to comment on any information received in this room with a third party. I'll have your wizard word on this before you leave, gentlemen. This hearing is closed."

Harry was in shock. Did this mean he was free? Where was everybody? Why was Lucius here? He felt himself being raised to his feet and a familiar pair of arms came pulled him into a tight hug.

"You are free, love, you are free," Draco was saying in his ear. Harry's arms came around Draco of their own free will as Harry was too dazed to realized what he was doing. A flash of blond hair on the other side of the room caught his attention.

"Draco, your father is here!"

"Yes, I know, love. He was the one that put all this together to get you out of Azkaban." Draco's arm was on Harry's shoulder and he led him closer to Lucius. "It's alright, love, he knows everything and he is happy for us. You are family now, he will protect you."

"Are you sure? Draco, he is Voldemort's right hand man! He will deliver me…"

"No, he won't." Draco stopped and spun Harry around, taking Harry's face in his hands to make eye contact. "He knows about the bond. You're a Malfoy now, Harry. We don't betray family, we stick together. You'll see."

"But why? If I died in Azkaban, you would be free to marry a pureblood like he always wanted. Why did he go through all this trouble to set me free?"

"Harry, listen to me. There is a reason but I can't tell you here. I promise you that you are safe and I'll not let anything happen to you. Do you trust me?"

Harry took a deep breath; there was no way around this one. "Yes, I trust you with my life."

"Then come with me; we have to go home. There is a lot to talk about."

"Where is Dumbledore? Why isn't he here?"

"He still thinks you did it, Harry. I'm sorry. I came across a piece of information that would prove that you were innocent, but I never took it to Dumbledore. I took it to the only other person I knew always believed you to be innocent, and he was the one to convince me that I could trust my father." 

"Who?"

"Snape."

"…"

"Trust me, Harry, there is a lot you don't know, but right now we have to go home and make sure you are all right."

"Ok," agreed Harry. He knew there was nothing more he could do now and he DID trust Draco. "You wouldn't happen to have a pair of glasses on you, would you?"

"Sorry, love. We will take care of it as soon as possible. Don't worry." Draco smiled while guiding Harry towards Lucius and Severus.

"Ah! Harry. Welcome back," offered Lucius. "Ready to go home?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," said Harry, still nervous about this whole thing.

"Please, call me Lucius. You are family now." Lucius took Harry's arm and handed him a glove.

Harry felt the familiar pull of a portkey and one second later he landed on a much brighter room with Draco by his side. Lucius and a dark shape that could only be Snape arrived soon after them.

"Oh, you are back already. Did everything go all right? Oh. I see it did," Harry heard an educated female voice say. "Harry, darling, welcome to Malfoy Manor."


	3. Chapter 3

**Brief explanation (or 'what is going on')**:

- During their 5th year, Harry and Draco managed to work things out between them and started dating in secrecy. Things got intense real fast and they decided to bond (I know, fast and unwise, but they are 15 and in love, give me a break)  
- In April (end of the month), Harry gets pregnant by natural means, which is possible but rare and demands lots of magical power, otherwise you depend on potions AND spells performed by a group of trained med-wizards.  
- Middle of May, Ginny's body is found and Harry is sent to Azkaban.  
- End of June, Harry's innocence is proved and he is released – not a public fact.

**Chapter 03**

Harry was still confused, not as much as he had been for the past… he had no idea how long, but still, things were slowly getting clearer everyday. This morning he was almost certain he was very near of being his normal self again. Now he wasn't so sure.

Some time ago he had 'regained consciousness' in a small cell in Azkaban, or had come back to his senses since he had never really passed out, he wasn't exactly sure, he could still feel the dementors but they seemed to keep their distance what minimized their effect on him. The cell itself was another thing that caught his attention. It was far better than the first cell he had been put in. It was still small and almost bare, but it was clean and had a window so now he had fresh air and sunshine (well, sunlight anyway). The food also improved for some reason and now he had a real blanket to cover himself at night. Maybe that was the standard treatment for prisoners before their trial and for some reason he hadn't received it when he first came to the island? Did that mean that he would finally get a trial?

His suspicions seemed to be confirmed when two aurors he had never seen before came to collect him and took him to the ministry. It was about time too, for some reason his health seemed to be deteriorating fast even in the better cell, he got sick every morning and was tired all the time.

Once they were at the ministry, however, everything got confused again. Draco was there and so was Lucius and there were lots of other people and they all talked, voices coming from different directions, lights, smells… Harry was having a difficult time concentrating for more than a few seconds but apparently he was considered innocent, Draco hugged him and Lucius was nice to him before they all went to Malfoy Manor where a nice Narcissa Malfoy bid him welcome… maybe he was completely crazy now.

He fainted at Narcissa's feet.

Harry slowly came back from oblivion, his body was warm and comfortable making him feel better than he had felt in a long time, making him fight as hard as he could to remain in the blessed dream state he found himself. Bit by bit reality made its way inside Harry's warm cocoon and he sighed, his nightmare was about to begin again but then he heard something he couldn't possible explain unless he was crazy. He could hear Draco's voice and at least two other male voices.

"_It's a dream, I'm not out, I'm in Azkaban. Oh! Gods, At least Lucius doesn't know._" 

"He is so pale. Why is he still out?" He could hear Draco saying, his heart was heavy just remembering how long had it been since he saw his beloved. A warm hand found its way into Harry's and soft lips pressed themselves against Harry's skin. Draco.

Harry opened his eyes unable to resist any longer.

Draco was sitting by his side in a bed, paying attention to a large brown haired man standing by… Snape? Harry felt dizzy again and closed his eyes, listening carefully to what was being said.

"He is still under the influence of the dementors, but its not a permanent condition. He will gradually come out of it in the next few days." The man was saying.

"Dementors? But I thought he was placed way from them when…" Draco started but Snape cut in.

"And he was! Draco, he was, but you have to remember that by the time that happened he had been exposed for almost two months already and was never treated for it, add to this his present medical condition and I'm sure you can imagine how long will it take for him to fully recover."

"_Medical condition, I have a medical condition, what is he talking about? _" Harry puzzled.

"Well," the stranger was saying, "from what I can tell he is as good as can be expected. Right now he needs rest more than anything else. When he awakes he will need light food and a bit of chocolate, I suggest a cup of hot chocolate, it will have the desired effect without overcharging his stomach. After that he will need to take it easy for a bit, lots of rest and sunshine, don't let him get too upset. Chocolate is ok but don't over do it, his condition does inspire attention after all. No flying, no apparating and, if possible, no floo and no portkey from now on. His magic will be a bit out of control, he should take easy on that too… well, I think my work here is done, I shall leave you," the voices moved away from the bed and Harry could hear a few more words just before a door closed, "Make sure he takes all his potions at the appropriate time, you are very fortunate to have Master Snape with you. His potions are always…"

Harry carefully opened his eyes again, he was alone in the bedroom. He took the opportunity to look around.

He was in a large soft and warm bed in a large bedroom. His vision was still blurry but he could tell everything was in tons of blue and cream, and judging by the shifting light, two large windows were open to let natural light filter in through thin white curtains, heavier ones in blue and cream were open and tied to the sides of the windows.

Maybe he could get out that way. If the windows were not locked he could sneak out after nightfall. He would still be unable to see anything without his glasses, but hopefully his captors wouldn't be able to see him either.

Lost in his thoughts Harry didn't hear a door opening and closing, or the foot steps approaching the bed until a voice sounded right next to him.

"Harry?" Harry spun his head around to find Draco standing by his side. His plans of escape were put aside as Draco pulled him in his arms and hugged him for dear life.

"Merlin, I thought I had lost you" Draco whispered.

"I knew for a fact I had lost you when they sent me to that place. Draco, I'm so scared, what is going on? What happened to your father? Why I'm here? How did I came to be here?" Harry asked not letting go of Draco for one second, afraid it was all a dream and his beloved would disappeared as soon as he let go.

"Wait, I asked for this before," said Draco pulling back a little, Harry felt glasses being placed on his face and sigh in relieve being able to see Draco clearly for the first time. It suddenly was too much for Harry and he couldn't hold the tears any longer. Draco held him while he cried.

"Harry, it's ok, I had to tell father about you in order to get you out of Azkaban. He accepts us. He is actually very happy for us and willing to help in anything we need." Draco said while planting small kisses all over Harry's face and neck.

"But why?"

"What do you mean why? You think he would let his grandchild be born in Azkaban if he could do anything about it?" 

"Grandchild?" Harry blinked a few times, "What grandchild?"

"The one in here, love" answered Draco placing his hand at Harry's abdomen, "You are pregnant, Harry, we are going to have a child." Those were the last words Harry heard before fainting again, not hearing Draco screams for the doctor to return.

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It took a few days for Harry to fully understand what had happened and to accept Lucius and Narcissa's friendship, not to mention the fact that he was indeed pregnant with his husband's child… They had to bring in Dr. Redwood, the brown haired stranger from the first day, one more time so that he could perform all the scan spells all over again to convince Harry.

One week after he was brought to the Manor Harry received the visit of Mme. Bones, who wished to make sure she had done the right thing by checking if he was being well treated. She was able to explain the legal aspects of Harry's situation a little better.

"Tell me again, Mme. Bones. Besides the revolution Draco here staged, what was done to get my situation sorted?" asked Harry looking the witch in the eyes.

"Well, dear," she started visibly uncomfortable, "I didn't really hear about any other efforts to bring the matter to justice."

"Nothing at all? What about the Weasleys? Dumbledore? Lupin?"

"Well…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04**

_"Tell me again, Mme. Bones. Besides the revolution Draco here staged, what was done to get my situation sorted?" asked Harry looking the witch in the eyes._

"Well, dear," she started visibly uncomfortable, "I didn't really hear about any other efforts to bring the matter to justice."

"Nothing at all? What about the Weasleys? Dumbledore? Lupin?"

"Well…"

Mme. Bones took a deep breath and prepared herself to shatter the illusions of the young men in front of her, not a thing she was looking forward to do. Lucius came to her rescue.

"They were pressing for a harsher punishment, Harry." He offered quietly. 

"…"

"Well, I mean not ALL of them" Mme. Bones added and Harry felt himself relaxing.

"_Not all of them fell for it. Someone still believes me…_"

"I remember Remus Lupin put up quite a fight. They had to drag him kicking and screaming out of the ministry quite a few times because no one would listen to his pleas of your innocence. The Lovegoods also made their support for you known through a series of articles in their newspaper, The Quibbler, but almost nobody believes what is written there anyway and Mr. Lupin is a werewolf so in the end it did very little in your behalf."

"Well, they tried anyway. That is what it counts." Said Harry with a sad smile. Draco wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulder to comfort him. Thinking of how Remus had fought for him made him remember Sirius. Was he still at large? Was he alive? Did he know about Harry's imprisonment? He had to let Sirius know he was free, but how?

"They were not the only ones, love" Draco added bringing Harry's attention back to the present, "Dean Thomas and Neville Longbotton got themselves in to quite a number of fights defending your name and Hagrid actually deducted house points from anyone who spoke ill of you in front of him. Just the sight of someone that size mad at you was enough to shut almost everyone's mouth."

"What about Ron and Hermione?" asked Harry worried about what his friends thought of him.

"Don't think about them, love. It doesn't matter" offered Draco placing a gentle kiss at Harry's forehead.

"That bad?"

"Well, love, they did most of the point losing for Gryffindor. The Weasleys were the ones ahead of the campaign to force the ministry in to sentencing you to receive the dementor's kiss. They were… quite vocal about it."

"They wanted me dead?" Harry's pain was visible in his eyes.

"They were mad with grief…" prompted Mme. Bones.

"No, Madame. Don't sugar coat the facts," spat Lucius, "Harry deserves to know the truth and we won't hide anything from him. They've known Harry since he was eleven. Half of that family owns their lives to him. Common sense alone, not to mention a good deal of well deserved gratitude, would demand a more controlled attitude from them and instead they were the first to yell bloody murder and demand revenge."

"Mr. Malfoy, I really don't think…"

"No! Nothing will be hidden from Harry. He has the right to know, it was his life they were demanding."

"Perhaps you are right, Mr. Malfoy, but let's not in our haste commit the same offence."

Harry sat half listening to the conversation, even sad with the news of how the Weasley family had acted, Harry couldn't help to feel a bit comforted with the Malfoy's attitude. Until now everybody had kept things from him.

Mme. Bones stayed a while longer and left convinced of Harry's well being. She agreed to keep the whole thing quiet until after the baby was born and Harry's seventeenth birthday to make sure nobody would try to take him anywhere under the excuse of him being a minor. After he became seventeen, when he would became a grown up in the wizarding world, no further explanation would be required to explain why he could do whatever he pleased and his safety as well of his family's wouldn't be compromised. 

-----------

After the witch left Harry turned to Lucius.

"What about Sirius Black?"

"Black? He's still on the run I suppose. It's not like he would drop by for a visit." Said Lucius sitting by Narcissa on the couch.

"No, I suppose he wouldn't," mused Harry, "still, he is my godfather. It would be nice to know what he thinks of this whole mess."

"Oh! Dear, I am sure he doesn't believe you are guilty. He, more than anyone, knows how easy is to condemn an innocent person to Azkaban." Narcissa assured him.

"I guess, but it would be nice to be sure." Harry sighed and gave the Malfoys another sad smile, "it just occur to me that we are in the same situation now, neither one of us can walk freely in the open again without the fear of being caught or hexed for something we didn't do. We both have to hide now. I can't even go back to Hogwarts."

"And would you go back to Hogwarts if your name was cleared?" asked Draco brushing Harry's hair away from his face.

"I don't know. There would be no way I could explain the baby without putting all of you in danger and I am not exactly eager to face… them after they all turned against me so easily, but then again I need an education and for that I need schooling. I don't know what I'm suppose to do."

It was Narcissa who offered a solution.

"Well, dear, I think you are forgetting something. Your name IS clear. The ministry let you go, don't you remember? Now it's just a question of when you want to make it public."

"Oh! Yes, I guess I could go back to Hogwarts," Harry though for a moment, "but I don't think I want to go back and feel like I have to be civil, even less be friends, with the people that are ready to turn their back at me at the first sign of trouble or have to pretend to be nice to the headmaster. He turned on me too, expelled me from school and everything."

"Harry could be home schooled," offered Lucius, "It is a habit somewhat out of use but it was quite common in the old days. It was not considered appropriate for the aristocracy to send their children to school where they would have to interact with the children from the lower classes."

"Marvelous idea, darling," complimented Narcissa, "and it will be much safer for Harry. Don't worry, dear, we will hire the best private tutors we can find."

"That would be great, but I don't think the great Albus Dumbledore will like his star student to be away from his clutches. Once everyone knows I'm innocent he will be hell bent in dragging me back to school." Said Harry.

"Not if you are seventeen, dear." Clarified Narcissa, "At seventeen you are an adult and can decide to continue or not your education, as well as where you are going to study."

"He will still have one year to get to me, though."

"Not if we wait until you are of age to announce your innocence. It will be a difficult year having to be home bound and all that, but I think we can keep you entertained." Narcissa smiled at him.

"What about me?" asked Draco.

"I'm afraid you will have to go back to Hogwarts, son." Answered Lucius, he knew it would be hard on the young couple but there was simply too much at stake as they were playing a dangerous game placing themselves at a gray area between the Dark Lord and the forces of light. "You will go back otherwise it would call too much attention from both sides and they would want to know where you are and why. It's best to pretend we don't know anything and behave accordingly, also it will won't hurt if you continue to improve your contacts with your housemates, a solid network of contacts always helps later in life."

"I see. All right, I´ll go back and play nice with the others." Draco agreed.

"And Harry will be home schooled, it will be easier on him and the baby. Let´s not go looking for any problems if we can avoid them". Concluded Lucius.

"We will have to wait at least one year to let everybody know about us, then." Said Harry gently petting Draco's hand not happy with the idea of spending the whole school year away from Draco, but he could see it was their best option and he would still be with his family… his family, he felt better when he remembered that.

"One year… and everybody will know you're mine." Draco smile at Harry kissing him lightly. "Oh, and what about Black?"

"Can't you write someone? Lupin perhaps if you are sure he will keep it to himself? Ask for his discretion and tell him you are free and the ministry is not after you, then you ask him to tell Sirius, and only Sirius and that he can Owl you here. That should be enough." Lucius suggested.

"Yes, I'll do that. I'll write Remus and… someone else." Added Harry not sure if he could tell the Malfoys where Snape's true loyalty were.

"Why not owl Black himself?" asked Draco puzzled.

"I know Sirius, the minute he knows I'm here and not in Azkaban he will tear down the door in order to get to me. He will act first and think of the consequences when they bite him in the …" Harry look at Narcissa and blushed, "Sorry, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Call me Narcissa, dear, or Mother, if you prefer and you have nothing to be sorry about. I haven't seen my cousin after he ran away from that horrid place but I can tell you that he was not the most calm and collected person I knew by a long shot. Yes, writing Mr. Lupin would be best, or maybe I could do that and invite him over for tea." Said Narcissa with her eyes lighting up with an idea.

"What do you have in mind, dear?" smirked Lucius.

"Well, Mr. Lupin is a teacher and it's already established that he would not hurt Harry and since we are in need of a tutor…"

Lucius pondered for a moment and Harry held his breath. It would be wonderful to have Remus with him, and maybe he could bring Snuffles (Sirius's dog form) with him. His hopes might have shown on his face because Lucius smiled at him and answered Narcissa with the most beautiful words he had ever heard.

"That would be fine, dear, whatever you think its best."

---------- 

A few days later Harry was making his way to his favorite spot on the garden with a book on his hands when a house-elf popped in front of him.

"Master Harry sir. Mistress Narcissa tell Dotzy to get Master Harry to see teacher room to sick pet."

"Er… ok?" asked Harry not sure he understood Narcissa's message but following Dotzy anyway.

They went through a side door half hidden by the garden plants that led directly in to Harry's and Draco's wing where, for safety reasons, most of the rooms Harry would be using during the year were located. There was their bedroom with adjoining bathroom, the morning room – as Narcissa called – for meals, a library that would also be used as classroom for Harry, the teacher's apartment (a living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom), Harry's office and Draco's office both attached to the library.

Lucius had reasoned with them that it would be easier to place protective and notice-me-not spells if all of the rooms Harry could need would be in a single area of the house, that way they could even have friends and 'business associates' over and they wouldn't notice a thing.

Dotzy led Harry to the teacher's room and Harry finally guessed what could be going on. He rushed past the small elf and followed the sound of muffed voices in to one of the rooms. Remus and Narcissa were sitting by the window watching intensely as Snape fussed around a prone form which was lying in the bed.

Draco was quietly talking to his father near the wall when he saw Harry coming in. He barely had time to grab his husband before Harry launched himself towards the bed.

"Harry, wait!" whispered Draco, "You must wait until Snape is finished."

Remus jumped to his feet and pulled Harry in a bear hug.

"Oh, Harry. We were so worried about you."

"What happened? Why is he unconscious?" asked Harry.

"Sirius and I tried to go to Azkaban a few days ago to break you free but he got hurt and we had to abort our rescue mission." Answered Remus with tears in his eyes, "some rescuers we are, right?"

"Well, as much as it pains me to say, Black is out of danger and on his way to recovery" interrupted Snape putting an assortment of vials away and joining the group by the door.

Harry and Remus hugged each other in relief with tears in their eyes.

"Well, enough of that," ruled Narcissa, "we did everything we possible could for the time being and stayed here longer than I would think safe. I think it's time we leave for the summer vacations as it won't be wise to do anything else. We can continue with what we planed after Draco is secure behind Hogwarts' walls. Harry, Mr. Lupin has agreed to become your tutor and he and his 'pet dog' over there will be residing in the manor with us. Your lessons will begin in September after we have returned from our vacation, now it would be best if we took our time to pack and let Mr. Lupin settle in and my cousin to heal."

"You are right, dear," agreed Lucius, "we didn't come all this way to do something rash now. There is too much at stake here and I, for one, think our new son-in-law is in dire need of a vacation from all of his problems and worries." 

"But what about Sirius? Will he be ok? I would like to talk to him a bit."

"You can't Harry, he will be out for another two or three days because of all the potions he took, but don't worry, Harry." Answered Draco, "Severus said he will be alright and fit to help Lupin in tutoring you when we came back from France."

Remus, Narcissa and Lucius also did their best to reassure Harry that everything would be alright and pointed out that Harry was also recovering from his stay in Azkaban. Remus and Sirius would be safer at the manor, where Snape could administer any potions that they might need and Harry needed the time away. A change of scenery would do him a world of good and prepare him for a year of home schooling. Accepting those arguments Harry knew that the discussion was over and he and Draco went to their room to pack for the summer.

The next day, Harry, Draco and Remus said their good-byes to Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy as they took the portkey to France. Dr. Redwood had laid down the law and no amount of threat or money made him give Harry permission to use a portkey, so they were taking the train – a muggle train – to go to France. Draco was skeptical and kept reminding them that no bridge would be long enough to cross from England to France without magic which had Harry laughing at him for a long time, only when he learned about the tunnel he got the joke.

Remus took them to the boarding platform and hugged them making Harry promise to write often and stood there until he couldn't see the train anymore then he returned to the manor to be by Sirius's side when he finally woke up.

That night, after a journey on the fastest train they had ever seen, through the longest tunnel which ran under the sea, according to both Remus and Harry much to Draco's astonishment, the Malfoys had their dinner in France.

-----------


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 01.

**Chapter 05**

Harry sat back in the long chaise and thought about his life. Was it even possible to be there, sitting in that gorgeous garden with Sirius' latest letter in his hand, feeling his belly get more rounded each day, drinking ice tea, wearing fancy clothes and watching Narcissa Malfoy read a book a few feet from him?

Sometimes he had the feeling it was all a dream and he would wake up in his cell to discover he was finally crazy. Did crazy people know when they were crazy? Well, if this was crazy he didn't mind because he had ever been so happy in his whole entire life and things were only getting better everyday as Draco and his parents did all they could to make Harry feel at home with them, going as far as bringing Remus and Sirius over on Harry's birthday so they could all spend a couple of days together. Harry couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"You look very happy today, dear" Narcissa said. Harry knew her well enough by now to know that she was smiling behind her book.

"I am very happy today, thank you mother, as I was very happy yesterday and the day before... I can safely say this is the best summer of my life" Harry´s smile grew larger when he saw Draco approaching.

"Oh, My! To be young and in love. It is really something, isn't it?" she teased.

"Narcissa, dear, leave your poor son-in-law alone." Lucius intervened coming out of the house and kissing his wife on the forehead. He petted Harry on the head, messing with his hair before sitting by Narcissa. "It's not nice to tease."

He had been living with the Malfoys for almost two months now and it felt like home. Lucius and Narcissa, or father and mother as they requested he would call them, had done everything to set him at ease and Harry was growing fond of them as time went by.

Lucius' acceptance was something that Harry doubted for days, until Lucius sat down with Harry so that he and Draco could explain to the raven haired teen why family was more important than political stands for the Malfoys. It was a timid beginning but they manage to overcome the initial difficulties and were getting along a little bit better now.

"News from home, I presume" Lucius said indicating the letter on Harry's hand.

"Oh... yes" Harry snapped back to reality, "They are doing better now that they can walk in the gardens and have the Malfoy wards to protect them. They are feeling safer, that helps... the fact that Remus is taking the wolfsbane potion every month now is also a plus."

"Everything will get better now, love. You'll see." Draco offered him pulling Harry in to his arms and kissing him. "We'll make sure of that."

A house-elf popped near by and announced that dinner was served and as one the Malfoy family made their way to the dinning room.

---------

Later that night, Harry and Draco were laying in each others arms in their room talking about the future.

"We are going back next week, love." Draco whispered in Harry's ear, "Will you be ok at the manor?"

"I would be better by your side," Harry signed, "but mother and father will be there with Sirius and Remus... Snape will drop by often to deliver our potions..."

Draco chucked at the mention of his godfather.

"Yeah, all right, not exactly a plus there" Harry agreed "but his potions are above average and our baby will have nothing but the best. I'll even be civil to Snape for that."

"I'm very proud of your bravery" Draco laughed and than added more seriously, "You will write me often, right? Send your letters through Severus so no one will be able to intercept them, and send lot's of photos. I'll be home every chance I get."

"Won't that raise suspicion? I don't want you taking unnecessary risks. I need you to be safe, everything will be alright as long as you are safe."

"Shh. I'll be safe and we'll be together in no time. Ok?"

"Ok"

---------- 

Two doors down the hall, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were having a slightly different conversation.

"I wish there was more that we could do," sighed Lucius nursing a glass of wine "but to publicly clear his name now would put him in the spotlight again and Dumbledore would be hell bent on getting his golden boy back under his 'care'. I would like to avoid that."

"I know, dear. I just don't like to see him nervous every time someone knocks on the door or we have visitors over... at the very least it's not healthy for the baby." Narcissa answered, "and having Sirius at his side will do wonders for him, but he will worry about his godfather as well."

"Yes, I know." Lucius pondered for a few minutes about their son-in-law's problems and turned to his wife, "maybe there is something that we could do and I'm sure Mme. Bones would be glad to assist in this one as well"

"What do you have in mind, dear?"

"What if, please notice that the Malfoys would have nothing to do with this... unfortunate turn of events, but what if one of the Dark Lord's raids went terribly wrong and a few Death Eaters found themselves as guests in the Ministry holding cells?"

"I fail to see how that would put Harry in a better mood, Lucius."

"Well, if Peter Pettigrew were one of the Death Eaters captured, a certain cousin of yours could be found innocent of the crimes he was sent to prison for"

"And Harry would have a free godfather and one less reason to worry about ministry or order raids at the manor." Mused Narcissa. "It could work. Sirius could issue a statement saying he is leaving England so no one would go looking for him... the order and the Dark Lord would think he was still mad about Harry going to prison and the general public and the ministry would think he just wanted to go away from all the sad memories and he would be free to stay with us at the manor without any worries."

"My beloved" smiled Lucius taking Narcissa in to his arms "I always love the way you are so rational about everything."

"And here I thought you loved best when you managed to make me lose all control" she smiled back at him.

"Lets work on that, shall we?" and with that Lucius picked her up and walked to their bed.

---------

The rest of the summer went by quickly. In one week they were back in England, Harry and Draco once again took the train home since Harry could not take a portkey. Draco did his school shopping at Diagon Alley, Harry's had been done in France for both schooling and the baby so no one would be suspicious, and sooner than they wanted it was time for Draco to go back to Hogwarts and the family fell in to routine.

Everyday Harry would have breakfast with Lucius, Narcissa, Remus and Sirius in the morning room in his wing of the manor. Lucius would go to the ministry and Narcissa to her social functions writing letters or organizing tea parties to raise funds for this or that charity institution. Remus and Sirius would spend the morning teaching Harry.

A snack would be served mid morning and lunch at noon, always in the morning room and Narcissa would usually have lunch with them.

The afternoon would include a small walk in the gardens, more lessons. Tea in the garden if the weather was good and free time to do whatever they felt like until dinner. Served in the dining room, the only time Harry would enter the main body of the manor for safety reasons. Twice a week Narcissa would give etiquette lessons so that Harry was prepared for his new life as a Malfoy after the war was over.

Harry knew it was a long way from Azkaban but he couldn't help feeling a little trapped inside the manor, as huge as it was, but he had to admit that everybody went out of their way to make him feel welcomed and it would be hard to get bored with Sirius and Remus as teachers anyway.

Lucius, on the other hand, was spending more and more time away from home. Coming and going at odd hours and never being very clear as to what he was doing. The mystery came to an end quite abruptly at the end of September when a scary black owl landed at his side on the dinner table. Lucius quickly took the note from it and read it.

"Oh, terrible news, I'm afraid," he said, but he had a smile that said otherwise on his face, "apparently there was an attempt to break in to the ministry last night. Three Death Eaters were captured. I am to go to the ministry and make sure they don't do too much damage to the cause."

"Really?" asked Sirius raising an brow, "Funny that is the first time ever I see you mention something about your... other job, around us. And you seem awfully pleased with what happened."

"Indeed, cousin, but I have good reason. You see, the Dark Lord is extremely worried because a very faithful servant of his was captured and Merlin only knows what kind of information a man like Peter Pettigrew could divulge to the aurors." Lucius smile broadened as he waited for the other shoe to drop. As usual, Harry was the first one to react, Lupin was shocked, too shocked to move and Sirius caught on to it a second latter.

"Pettigrew was captured by the aurors? How? When?" Harry sputtered.

"Yes, Peter Pettigrew was captured last night, as I said before and as for how... well, maybe Mme. Bones got a tip from a well placed source." Lucius answered sipping his tea. "I'm afraid I won't be able to stop him from answering a few well placed questions under Veritaserum. I hope the Dark Lord finds in his heart to forgive him."

"Lucius, I love you." Yelled Harry throwing his arms around Lucius's neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you... Oh, Merlin, I've got to write Draco," and with that, he ran out of the room.

"Yes, I guess you did make him happy, darling." Said Narcissa placing a kiss on her husband's face.

"Thank you, Lucius." Said Sirius pulling the blond in to his arms.

"Don't mention it, Sirius, just make sure Harry is happy."

"Don't worry, I will."

"We will." Offered Remus shaking Lucius' hand.

----------

"Did you see the Prophet today?" yelled Harry the next day, practically running into the morning room where Narcissa, Remus and Sirius were having breakfast. He stood before them bouncing on his feet.

"Don't run, cub" smiled Remus, it was hard to scold at Harry when he was happy. Sirius and Narcissa just smiled. "It's dangerous for the baby."

"Never mind me running, take a look at this!" beamed Harry throwing the newspaper in Remus lap, who looked at the paper and gasped. Sirius quickly took the paper from him.

"Oh, come on, what does it say?" and froze reading the headline. Remus took advantage of his friend's shaken state and took the paper back, proceeding to read the front page out loud.

_**SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT**  
By Rudolf North_

Early last night the alarms in a high security area of the Ministry of Magic went off indicating a breach in security. Aurors were fast in their response and fierce in their action capturing three Death Eaters who managed to find their way in.  
Our brave law enforcers, still showing signs of the battle they had to undergo but conscious of their duties proceeded with the interrogation of the prisoners, only to discover one of the most appalling injustices ever committed by this administration. Amongst the prisoners was one Peter Pettigrew who was believed to be dead by the hands of Sirius Black, escapee from Azkaban.  
During the interrogation, the real facts that took place on the fateful Halloween night of 1981 and its aftermath came to light. It was Pettigrew, and not Black, who was the secret keeper for the Potters. It was him, and not Black, who told the Dark Lord where to find the ones he had called friends... 

Remus trailed off while he continued reading.

"Oh, look, they call Peter a 'master mind in the path of darkness'. Can you believe it?" Remus was almost chocking with laughter.

"Well, look at it this way, at least now he is getting some of the recognition he always craved" Narcissa offered sweetly sending Sirius in to fits of laughter.

"Oh! Cissa, I always loved your sense of humor."

"But what does it mean?" pressed Harry, "What happens to Sirius now?"

"Well," Remus rapidly read the rest of the article, "they will be interrogating him again today and pending on the answers, Sirius will receive full pardon and a hefty sum for his wrongful imprisonment. Nothing is official yet, of course, but I think this is the best news I have ever received in my life!"

"I'll drink to that." Said Sirius lifting his glass of orange juice. "Is that the reason Lucius is not with us today?"

"As a matter of fact," nodded Narcissa, "he is at the ministry. Ostensibly in order to get as much information as possible if not to get his 'colleagues' free. We do have to keep up appearances I'm afraid."

"Will they get free then?" asked Harry a bit worried.

"Not before the damage is done, dear." Smiled Narcissa.

"Even Wormtail?" the hurt in Harry's voice was overwhelming.

"Maybe not him, it all depends on how much he will spill before the interrogation is over. If he talks enough the Dark Lord will definitely want a word with him in the future, Veritaserum or not." Narcissa gave a knowing wink to Harry.

"Well, in that case I can live with him escaping once more" said Harry after a few seconds considering the kind of words the Dark Lord would use to express his disappointment. He could bet '_crucio_' would be one of them.

The day went by slowly and Lucius only made it back in time for tea but he brought home great news. It was a matter of time before the ministry issued an official pardon for Sirius and nobody suspected of his involvement in the whole affair.

---------- 

"We have a problem" Amelia Bones said as she stepped out of the fireplace in the main hall of the manor.

"Mme. Bones," Lucius offered her a hand and led her to the library where Narcissa and Sirius were having tea, "What happened? When I left the ministry not one hour ago everything seemed to be in order."

"Peter Pettigrew! That is what!" She sighed exasperated. "During his interrogation some auror asked the wrong question and now the whole ministry is falling apart"

"Good lord. Why?" asked Narcissa handing Mme. Bones a cup of tea.

"He said he was part of the group responsible for framing Harry Potter of murder. Everybody at the ministry already knows Mr. Potter is innocent, it is a matter of minutes before someone tells Dumbledore and the Prophet will make a headline out of it for sure. Tomorrow the whole world will know."

"It's too early! Lucius, what do we do?" Narcissa turned to her husband and caught the look he was exchanging with Sirius, they both nodded in silent understanding. The family would take care of everything.

"I have to get back to the ministry" said Bones, "They will notice if I'm not there."

"Mme. Bones, if I could impose" Lucius interrupted, "perhaps it would be better if we had a word with Fudge, before things got out of hand. There is still the matter of protecting Harry until the baby is born and we both know the headmaster will not be pleased with Harry's association with my family. Merlin only knows what he might do."

Amelia Bones sighed "If anyone ever told me a few months ago that I would 'conspire' with Lucius Malfoy to keep thing hidden from Albus Dumbledore, I would have sent them to St. Mungo's without thinking twice."

"I know Mme., but that is the way things are. We better hurry." Said Lucius offering his arm to Mme. Bones and leading her to the fireplace.

Narcissa and Sirius set their tea cups on the table and made their way to Harry's rooms to prepare the young man for the storm that was fast approaching. The next few days would be very trying for the small pregnant wizard.

"Cissa, How did this happen?" asked Sirius as they made their way in to the library where Harry was studying with Remus.

"Lucius had no idea Pettigrew was in the group that framed Harry. We thought the Dark Lord had only sent the younger members of his forces. Harry is already free, not a problem there, but tomorrow the whole world will know about it; there was no way we could anticipate something like this. Come, we must prepare him." Explained Narcissa opening the door to the library.

--------

The morning came fast upon the world and caught quite a few wizards and witches by surprise. Sitting at the head table, Snape had a front row seat for the day's events and couldn't help but smirk at the reactions the Daily Prophet provoked that morning.

Hermione Granger paled and gaped like a fish, Ronald Weasley almost fell from the bench, all mighty Albus Dumbledore dropped his cup and he couldn't be sure of how many just yet, but at least 5 Hufflepuffs fainted at once. Satisfied with the show and carefully avoiding eye contact with his godson, Snape calmly got his copy of the newspaper and read the first page.

_**HARRY POTTER INNOCENT**  
By Rudolf North_

Yesterday in a dramatic moment during the second day of interrogation of one Peter Pettigrew, who just the day before confessed to be the one who betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord and later framed Sirius Black for his crimes, brought to light another one of his horrible misdeeds.  
It seems that last May, Mr. Pettigrew was part of a group of Death Eaters who went to Hogsmeade and staged the rape and murder of one Ginevra Weasley, framing Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, for that hideous crime. The ministry is still not releasing the details of how that was accomplished but a reliable source inside the ministry confirmed that there is no doubt as of what really happened and that Mr. Potter is indeed innocent. Still according to Pettigrew, Miss Weasley is very much alive and doing fine, currently working quite willingly under the orders of the Dark Lord.  
What this reporter wants to know now is how far this deceit goes? How many of the Weasleys are servants of the Dark Lord. One can not ignore the results of that unspeakable act of betrayal. Not only was Mr. Potter thrown in Azkaban but also the so called grieving family pressed hard and quite loudly for a harsher punishment, demanding not only that Mr. Potter was sentenced to the kiss but also that all of his possessions would revert to them, including the family vaults, thankfully none of those requests were granted by the ministry.  
Even thought, isn't it strange that with the imprisonment of Mr. Potter so many 'benefits' have befallen on the said family? Like the broom used now a days by the youngest son, Ron Weasley, former best friend of Mr. Potter, as anyone can see on the picture below, the said young man was the proud 'owner' of a Firebolt at the last Gryffindor match, a fine broom which strangely enough exhibits the same serial number as the one owned by Harry Potter.  
Also, according to sources inside Hogwarts, a certain rare and valuable invisibility cloak left to Mr. Potter by his father mysteriously found its way into the hands of one Hermione Granger, also a former best friend of Mr. Potter who was very vocal on his turn to evil (for a complete recount of the interviews of both Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger turn to page 12).  
Is it the habit of Hogwarts current headmaster to award personal possessions of students to another as if belongs to him? If so, it is certainly a new system that the board of education and the school governors know nothing about. Mr. Lucius Malfoy, school governor, assured this reporter that any possessions that Mr. Potter might have left at school will be transferred to a secure location and no one except its rightful owner will be able to claim them, also a thorough investigation will be conducted in order to verify the claims of inappropriate acquisition or disposal of the said possession by other students. We can only hope that the board of governors see that some measure of justice is served in this appalling case.

Snape glanced at the pictures illustrating the article. Mr. Creevey's skills were improving; the quality of his work left nothing to be desired. Maybe he should ward some points?

Once he finished his breakfast, Snape got up and made his way in to the dungeons. He had quite a few things to do today and Albus was certainly going to call a meeting of the order before the morning was over. The old meddling fool.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06**

**Draco**

The blond Slytherin calmly ate his breakfast and read the morning paper. His outward appearance did not betray the utmost turmoil he had inside. Harry's innocence was out in the open and in no time at all the Hogwarts hounds would begin searching high and low in the wizarding world for him. There was no way they would leave him alone now that they knew their golden boy was innocent and they thought they could use him again.

He noticed his godfather leaving the head table and decided that a visit to the potion master's personal chambers was in order. He needed a secluded fireplace to talk to his parents at once.

Draco made his way out of the great hall only half listening to the shocked conversations amongst his peers. How many of them would claim to have believed Harry all along? How many were waiting for Harry to set one foot at Hogwarts to try and win his favors again? They all made him sick, but that was not important. He had to get to the dungeons, he had a floo call to make.

**Hermione.**

Up until that morning, Hermione Granger had everything figured out in her life. She was going to complete her studies at Hogwarts and get a job at the Ministry. In a few years she would be well connected enough to propel her political career and get a public office, something small for start, but not too small, and very influential... she would work with the best and be one of them. Then, when the time was right she would restructure all muggle/wizard relations and since no one would know as much as her about muggles, she would be given more and more power and with that she would gain more influence until she was in a prime position to make some real changes in the wizarding world. But that would not change her. No way. She would still be humble and tell the newspaper, when they come to interview her, how much she owned to her two childhood friends, even how she learn to deal with deceit. She would tell them all.

She was, naturally off to a good start, and that didn't hurt either. All thanks to her ability to make the right friends.

They were eleven when they met. She was nervous and excited, a whole new world of things to discover and explore. The spells, the castle, her wand, the ghosts, the giant squid, the books and all that knowledge just waiting for her. Although, the rest of the students were something of a disappointment. How could they not know the most basic spells? Didn't they read? And Harry Potter, could you believe that guy? He was in all those history books, an honest to God history figure, and he had no idea! He never read the books about himself! No wonder she never made any real friends. Really!

Of course, it all changed that Halloween back in their first year. Ever since then she, Ron and Harry had been inseparable. All the adventures and places she was able to go... being the brain of the trio had its perks. She was admired by all. The cleverest witch at Hogwarts, making them all jealous of her intellect. Ha! She had shown them.

But Harry Potter had the nerve to go and try to ruin it all. Thankfully she had the time to make sure everybody knew she was NOT his friend. She took great care in establishing her public position as a defender of the light and not a friend of Harry Potter. Of all the things he could have done, did he honestly think she would let him get away with rape! and murder, of course. So she took special care in her interviews, no reason to jeopardize her future because of something that he did.

It was partially her fault, really. She let him get away with too many things, too much rule breaking and that got into his head. He began thinking he was more important than he really was... above the rules or something. She was not surprised at all that he had committed a crime.

She should have seen it coming and prevented it. She should have gone to the headmaster sooner, but she was too close. When you are that close you lose perspective and that was the only reason Potter was able to fool her. Now she had learned her lesson and was ready to never make the same mistake again... so it was only fair that she got an invisibility cloak out of the deal. It was not as if anybody else was using it and she was putting it to good use, along with the marauders map. Using them to help herself do a better job as a prefect, really, she had the highest record of catching students after curfew. She was a shoe in for head-girl.

Then THAT morning came and her world was turned up side down. It couldn't be true, it couldn't. It had to be a trick, a prank from the twins, a sick joke against her. It had to be. If it was true... well, if it was true she would have to offer a very good apology to Po... Harry. Maybe even some tears, yes, tears would be good. Harry was never the one to resist tears.

The only question now was how to get to him.

Na, that wouldn't be a problem. Dumbledore was certainly on his way to the ministry and Harry would be at school by dinner. All she had to do was make sure she was the first one to get to him, nothing she couldn't do with her map and invisibility cloak. It was time to plan what she was going to say to him. She needed to go to the library, seclude herself in to a quiet corner and think.

**Ron**

Hermione read her copy of the Daily Prophet twice and ran out without as much as saying a word. Not good, but it did give him time enough to read the front page.

Potter was innocent? What did they mean Potter was innocent? He had killed Ginny for crying out loud... and Ginny was a Weasley, no Weasley had ever been a Death Eater. Ridiculous.

Potter was dark! He knew it. He was the best friend of the boy-who-lived, he was the tragic hero, the one betrayed by his best friend but rose above and fought for the light... well, ok, so there was no fighting as of yet, but soon there would be and he would be a central figure in it.

Hum... they were claiming the Potter fortune? How come nobody told him anything? Well, that was probably not going to happen anymore now that Potter was free.

And why shouldn't he have the broom? That traitor had taken his little sister; he was entitled to take something of his too. Except that now it looked like Harry didn't kill Ginny. Damn, did that mean he would have to give back the broom? Well... the Prophet made it sound like he had stolen the thing, but he hadn't, not really. He and Hermione had discussed it long and hard. It had been clear that they did deserve a reward for all those times Potter had put them in danger, but now everybody would side with Potter and forget all about Ron, the poor lonely orphan who got himself in to trouble again, and came back to make Ron give up his broom. That was not fair.

But if that was all true Ron would have to roll with the punches, he was not stupid. If Pott... Harry was a hero again, everybody would start sucking up to him again. At least he would go back to the front page as the best friend of the boy-who-lived. No journalist had tried to get an interview with him in months!

He had no doubt in his mind that Harry would forgive him and go back to being his friend; he always forgave Ron for anything, maybe he could even make Harry see reason and he would keep the broom like he deserved for all his troubles.

Yeah, that's what he would do.

And with that Ron happily resumed eating his breakfast.

**The Weasleys**

Molly and Arthur were sitting in the kitchen, quietly enjoying their breakfast when the delivery owl came. It was a morning like all other mornings, no sign of anything out of the ordinary happening, it wasn't particularly sunny, maybe it would rain later on. All peaceful and quiet until that owl came.

Arthur got the paper putting a few knuts on the appropriate pouch. The owl left. Arthur got the paper and opened in the front page and the world came to a screeching halt. He never heard his tea cup crashing on the floor or Molly's question of what was going on.

"He is getting off. Ginny's murderer is getting off" was repeated over and over in his head. Nothing else made sense. The Potters were rich, somehow that filthy murder managed to use his money to get himself out of jail. Only when his eyes caught the name Pettigrew did Arthur manage to control himself enough to actually read the article.

"It's all lies! They are lying through their teeth and I will not allow anyone to drag my daughter's name in the mud so they can set her murderer free. Ginny would never be a Death Eater, Ron would never lay hands on something that did not belong to him and we never made any claims on the Potter money. I'm going to the Ministry right now and, Merlin help me, I'll get to the bottom of this even if I have to tear that place apart with my bare hands, Molly, I swear!" 

Molly was shocked in to silence. Her family name was being slandered in the front page of the Daily Prophet. They couldn't do that. The Weasleys were the victims here. So what if they were poor? They never took what was not theirs, never claimed what was not just and rightfully theirs. Their only daughter had been murdered and now they were trying to... trying... no, she wouldn't allow it.

"I'm coming with you." She said almost calmly.

"No, Molly, you better stay put. I don't want you dealing..."

"I'M COMING WITH YOU!" she nearly ran him over getting her cloak and grabbing the floo powder. "She was my daughter too!" she added with a whisper with tears running down her face.

"Alright, mother. We'll go together." Said Arthur pulling Molly in to his arms. "We'll do everything together." He said guiding her to the fireplace and yelling "Ministry of Magic, main hall."

**Dumbledore**

That morning, Albus was sitting at the head table talking to the teachers about trivialities when the post arrived. He was following the events carefully both through the paper and through the reports a few well placed order members were sending him, the information these Death Eaters were providing was vital to the order. The war went on and this unusual bout of good luck was like a breath of fresh air after the events of last May.

Dumbledore was feeling old. All those years of planning and preparation, waiting until Harry was old enough to face Voldemort. How could it go so wrong? If Harry wanted the Weasley girl, why didn't he simply date her? She was willing enough, always following him around like a lost puppy.

Yes, dating would have being perfect for morale. But no, he had to go and rape the girl, killing her too... and leaving evidence! Albus could have used the murder to gather sympathy, if only no one knew Harry was the one responsible for it. But he was, and now he was in Azkaban, wasting away. So much talent, so much power, thrown away in one irrational act. When did Harry went dark? How? Why? Maybe Minerva had been right all those years ago, he should have seen the signs sooner. The boy was obvious mistreated at his relative's house... just like Riddle so many years ago. He should have known.

In a way, it was better that it happened now. If Harry had done it after he was a fully trained wizard, after he had defeated Voldemort, no one would be able to bring him to justice. He would have become too powerful for that. No it was better that it happened when it did. Now they had to move on.

Maybe he could convince Sirius and Remus to come back to the order. They had left after Harry's imprisonment, not accepting the reality of the facts that were right in front of them. Well, maybe not now, but in a few months they would realize what that that was the right thing to do. He was suffering too; he did like the boy and wished that he could have done something, but... what?

The noise in the great hall suddenly got lower, groups of students gathering around the Daily Prophet's editions that came with the morning mail. There was something going on. Grabbing his paper, Dumbledore opened and read the headline. His hand went lax and his tea spilled all over his forgotten toast. He had failed again, Harry was innocent. Another one of his boys had been sent to Azkaban under false charges... but this was good news, this was great news, Harry would be back. He could still be trained. They still had a fighting chance at the war.

Albus hurried back to his office to place a few calls and then a visit to the ministry was in order. Harry would be back before night fall.

-------------

Amelia Bones glanced over to Cornelius Fudge who looked as nervous as she felt while they prepared themselves for a press conference with apparently every single journalist in the wizarding world. Everything was in the hands of that stupid buffoon now. If they didn't act quickly these would be an uproar with people demanding to know where Harry was. They had to issue an official statement fast, before Dumbledore got involved. She figured he would be at the ministry before lunch.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to this press conference. We will read a short statement and proceed to answer a few questions. Please remain calm and at the appropriate time present your questions in a orderly manner. Thank you." A ministry secretary open the conference officially, "Illustrious Mr. Ministry of Magic, Cornelius Fudge has the floor."

The secretary took his sit and Fudge got up and took the stand. He pompously took a parchment from his pockets and began to read.

"It came to public notice with the interrogation of one Peter Pettigrew the fact that Mr. Harry Potter had been framed for the murder of Miss Ginevra Weasley in May. I am here to announce that this news did not come as a surprise for this administration and in fact..." Several whispers cut Fudge speech and an unknown reporter raised his voice.

"Does this mean the ministry has knowingly kept an innocent 15 year old in Azkaban?"

"Questions will only be permitted at the end of the ministry's official statement" the secretary barged in, preventing any other questions "The audience will please refrain from interrupting again or we will cut this meeting short."

Fudge nodded at his secretary, glared at the reporter and continued reading. "And in fact the ministry had full knowledge of this fact ever since the beginning of June, when Mr. Potter was released in to medical care. Mr. Potter has been cleared of all charges for the past four months and is currently attending school in an establishment of his choosing at an undisclosed location. The decision to keep this information a secret was due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation and that Mr. Potter was the obvious target of a conspiracy. And even though his innocence has been made public, Mr. Potter has informed this Ministry that he has no intention of exposing himself again until the perpetrators of this crime have been apprehended. Thank you for your time."

The reporters were shocked. The Ministry knew Potter was innocent; they were keeping him at a secure location. There was a conspiracy! A conspiracy to destroy the boy-who-lived! They had enough stories to last for months! And just when they though all of their head lines dreams had come true, it got better!

"MY DAUGHTER WAS NOT A DEATH EATER!" screamed an enraged red head at the door. It took only seconds for Molly Weasley to be identified.

"Mrs. Weasley. That was a fact that came up at yesterday's interrogation and has not yet been confirmed..." a smiling Fudge tried to defuse the situation.

"How could anyone believe that? How could you print that? It's all lies. Not a single word in this nonsense is true." Molly's purple face was clearly visible and she tried to make her way to the front of the room as a red head man, clearly her husband, tried to hold her back and get her to calm down.

"Mrs. Weasley. How about your claim to the Potter fortune?"

"There is no such thing. No Weasley has ever taken something that didn't belong to them, we never claimed any money from the Potters." Yelled Mr. Weasley.

"We have copies of the claim. It's signed by one Percy Weasley. Is he not your son? Do you deny knowledge of this fact?" Several reporters were yelling now, asking all sort of questions to a befouled Weasley couple who could only blink as they looked at the copies some reporter had shoved in their hands.

"SILENCE" Yelled the chief Auror present in the room. "This conference has come to an end. Empty the room." And in a matter of seconds the aurors herded all the reporters, still yelling questions, out of the room.

"Molly, Arthur. I'm sorry you had to find out like this." Offered Mme. Bones. "We had no intention of keeping this information secret from you, but it was a matter of national security. Heck, I think we are talking world security right now."

"It's a lie, it's a lie." Cried Molly in her husband's arms.

"No, it's not, Molly." Mme. Bones said firmly, "We have known about Mr. Potter's innocence for several months now. It has been confirmed by more than one source. The rest of the article... well, Pettigrew did give his testimony under Veritaserum, so it is true as far as he knows, but we are still waiting for confirmation before we act on it... and I know for a fact that Percy did file a claim on the Potter's family money. It has been turned down, but he did do it."

"Is this true?" Arthur sounded lost. "Potter was innocent? Then who killed Ginny?"

"Right now we are working to verify the fact that she is dead." Mme. Bones said.

"What? How can there be any doubt?" Arthur was shocked.

"A men said so under Veritaserum. The law demands second examination of the body in order to clarify the fact. We should know before the day is out."

"Then what?" asked Molly still sobbing.

"If it is Ginny, we continue our investigation to find out who did it. If not... we'll have to find out where she is and how much she is actually involved in all this."

"She would never join... him."

"That is what we hope to find out." At that moment a young auror come forward and whispered something in Mme. Bones ear. "Ah! Dumbledore is here."

"Mme. Bones," smiled Dumbledore as he entered the room from a side door. "Good day. I understand you had a very busy morning."

"Good day, sir. And I'm afraid it comes with the territory"

"Yes, yes. I'm afraid it does. But, since we are all here, perhaps its time we sort young Harry's situation." The old man said happily.

"Situation? I wasn't aware that there was a situation. Headmaster." Said Mme. Bones pretending not to know where this was heading.

"Why? His imprisonment. I insist that he is released at once. I'll take him to Hogwarts where he will be able to recover from this ordeal."

"_Ah,_" thought Amelia Bones "_of course, he came through the side door. Probably using one of the special fireplaces set aside for ministry personnel only. He never heard the official statement or spoke with any reporters. This could be fun._"

"But... Headmaster Dumbledore, Potter has already been released." Said Bones with wide eyes as if she didn't understand what was going on.

"What?" Dumbledore and the Weasleys asked together.

"The investigations proved Potter's innocence. He was released months ago."

"Harry was cleared of all charges and released and nobody told us?" shrieked Molly Weasley.

"Well, he was in desperate need of medical attention and said he was going to stay with his family so we didn't see any problems with that." Answered Mme. Bones.

"But why was I not informed of this?" demanded Dumbledore.

"You are not informed of every single hearing that happens, Dumbledore, only of the trial as it is your job as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, remember? The Potter case never made it to trial, it was solved way before it ever got to that point...and it's an on-going investigation, all details are kept secret until the final result is reached when the case gets out of the auror department's hands. You know that! If you wanted details from this case you should have asked for it specifically, that is the law. The fact that any of this came to public knowledge is a severe lack in security and we are investigating how did this happen."

Dumbledore was livid, of course he knew that, but given the circumstances he though someone would inform him if anything had happened, and now Harry was out there, free for months and he made no contact with him or anybody in the order.

"_He probably hates us all now. I have to get to him; I have to make him see reason and come back to fight on the side of the light._"

"Well, of course, but I mean, Harry never came back on September first. He is missing valuable school time. If I had known he was already..." He tried to reason but Mme. Bones put a stop on him.

"But he is receiving an education..." she said matter-of-factly as if it was the most logical thing in the world, "just not in Hogwarts, headmaster. Did you forget that he was expelled? He found himself another place to study."

"Since the charges were dropped..."

"Since they are dropped as of now, it is up to him and his guardians to decide what to do and I was informed they chose a new school rather than applying for re-admittance. The Ministry was deeply grateful; his decision helped keep vital information secret and since he was expelled from his previous school there was no need to inform anyone. We did everything we could to keep him safe, Dumbledore."

"Safe?" yelled Molly, "that maybe be, but sending him off to those muggles... you should have sent him to us or to Hogwarts. He would be much better off with the ones who love him."

"T_he ones who love him? Is this woman serious?_" Mme. Bones could not hide the look of surprise in her face and Molly knew at once she had gone too far.

"Well, I know that in a moment of grief we may have said and done a few things that would give the impression that..." Molly started only to be interrupted.

"You pushed for the maximum penalty, you destroy his personal possessions, a member of your family laid claim to his family vaults and properties, your son is using his broom and giving interviews with the only purpose of telling everyone who will listen how dark and violent Harry had became. I believe those in more than 'a few things', Mrs. Weasley, and they gave more than a mere impression. No one in their right mind would place Mr. Potter into your care." Amelia Bones grew a few inches during her speech and had the pleasure of seeing the Weasleys shrink and blush. Albus was shocked into silence and Amelia Bones took advantage of that moment to get away from them as fast as she could before she really began to dress them down. There was no way of controlling her tongue went she was this mad at someone and she would end it up saying the wrong thing and give Harry's true location or situation away.

Dumbledore watched the witch walk away in silence. There was nothing he could do here. Even if things seemed a little fishy, everything was done according to the law and his hands were tied. The only thing left for him to do was to pay a visit to the Dursleys. They would tell him which was Harry's new school and then it would only be a matter of time before he got a hold of the boy and convinced him to go back to Hogwarts.

Yes, that was the right thing to do.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 07**

Dean and Neville had become quite good friends over the last few months. It had started out of necessity, because no one else would speak or even be civil to them in the Gryffindor Tower and evolved in to a nice friendship.

Outside the tower things were slightly better as long as Harry's name didn't come up in a conversation. Something that was happening less and less as the days flew by. Still, life was not easy for the two Gryffindors, the only other student who openly stood by them, and Harry, was Luna Lovegood, the whole school regarded the little Ravenclaw as crazy but it was nice to have yet another person around, life could be really lonely at Hogwarts and, Dean suspected, Neville was harboring more than just friendship for the blond girl.

That morning, as usual, they went down early for breakfast, Luna meeting them there just a few minutes later, and they left for the library before the great hall became too crowded. If anything their grades were improving due to all the time they were spending at the library. Silently they got to their usual table and started on their homework. They had been at it for about half an hour when Hermione Granger busted through the doors clutching an edition of the Daily Prophet in her hand and sat in one of the more secluded tables at on of the corners of the library instead of the central one she usually favored.

That was their first sign that something different was going on.

As they made their way to their classes, Luna's first because neither one of the boys wanted her taking her chances alone in the hallways, and than again as Dean and Neville went to their transfiguration class, they noticed a lot of the students were gathered in small groups talking in hushed tones amongst themselves eventually glancing at them as they walked by. It was the same when Harry had been first arrested and they started to speak up in his defense, only now the other students didn't seem so hostile, quite the opposite actually, they had an awed expression and some of them even said good morning as they walked by. Still no one spoke to them directly.

They went in to the empty classroom, as they made a habit out of arriving first to avoid any problems. The teachers were forced to deal with any problems inside their classrooms and Dean and Neville had had their share of teachers idly standing by as they were hexed in the hallways. The teachers simply turned a blind eye to anything the students did as long as it was Luna, Dean or Neville who were the injured ones. Merlin knew what would happen if they tried to defend themselves.

Funny enough, Snape and the Slytherins were the only ones who were not giving them a hard time. Draco Malfoy had been down right civil to them while even McGonagall was being partial this time.

Minerva McGonagall entered her classroom and sat, placing her notes on her desk before taking a quick look around the room. Thomas and Longbotton were there already as they had done in every one of her classes this year. They always sat in the last row of tables, at the second table closest to the door, but she knew from experience that as soon as everyone came in and the door was closed they would move to the table right by the door and be the first ones out once the class was dismissed. They would not speak to anyone and were always by themselves or with the Lovegood girl.

The three of them, two of them being her Gryffindors, were the outcasts of Hogwarts and were treated like dirt because they had the courage to stand by a friend – who was now proved innocent of all the charges brought up against him, but that made no difference in the end. The problem was that they stood by what they believe, they had the courage to do it and the whole school, herself included, tried to bully them out of it. It was a shameful lesson that if they got any wiser by it, wouldn't soon be forgotten.

Seamus Finnigan was the next one in. He saw his two dorm mates at the back of the room and made to their table.

"Hi, Dean. Do you mind if I sit here?" Seamus asked in a cheerful voice setting his bag on the table next to them.

"Sorry. Seamus," Dean didn't even looked up to answer, "We are saving those for a friend"

"Oh, ok. I just thought..." the Irish boy tried again only to be interrupted.

"Look, Seamus, I'm sorry, but class is about to start so if you are trying to set us up for something it will just have to wait until class is over. Please move before McGonagall takes even more points from Dean and me. I believe Gryffindor is in a bit of a jam as it is already, you don't have to make it worse." Sputtered Neville.

McGonagall pretended not to hear that as she prepared to class. The boy was right; she and all the other teachers had been taking a lot of points from them for no reason at all. Merlin, the example they had been giving and they would have continued to do so if Pettigrew had not been caught. She felt her face growing warm as she remembered the treatment they had given the three students. They had a lot to atone for and not only to Potter anymore.

Neville and Dean were out of the room so fast that McGonagall didn't have the chance to ask them to stay behind. Which was probably for the best, she couldn't begin to imagine what she could say to them.

The boys were outside Luna's class before her class was dismissed and once more noticed the strange looks they were receiving and all the people taking their time to greet them as they passed by. Luna met them and showed then the edition of the Quibbler she had in her hands with the news of Harry's innocence and freedom. Suddenly, it all made sense and they talked about it as they made their way to the Great Hall to eat lunch.

----------

Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts by the time the morning classes were over. He had briefly gone to the Dursleys straight out of the Ministry but the house was empty at the time and he couldn't wait around all day. Many Order members were sending him owls demanding a meeting, the school was probably going wild with the news and he had many things to prepare if he was to receive Harry again.

A private room would certainly be appreciated by the young man. Somewhere close enough to the Gryffindor Tower so that he could reconnect with his friends but independent enough so he could vent whatever frustration he had. Yes, that would be nice.

There was also the matter of his possessions. Where were the blasted things? His broom would be easy enough, the Weasley boy never made a secret that he had it, his cloak was with Miss Granger, he had seen her walking around the castle with it and Hagrid had his owl, but what about his books, uniform and other things? He needed to get a hold of everything soon, he wanted Harry at Hogwarts in a couple days at the latest.

He got in to his office and activated the Order's medallions to alert everyone about the meeting. They must had been expecting his call because in less than ten minutes all the members were there, including Snape, who always made sure to be the last one to arrive only because he knew it would enrage Moody.

"Welcome, my friends. I believe you all read the papers this morning." Several heads nodded. "I'm afraid we have several things to discuss on this meeting. First of all, I spoke to several of my contacts at the Ministry and it is true, Harry Potter was framed for the murder of Ginny Weasley."

Molly Weasley was sobbing again and McGonagall voiced the question many of them wanted to ask.

"Albus, how did that happen?"

"I'm not familiar with all the details yet, but apparently Pettigrew and a few junior Death Eaters were able to stage the attack and nobody ever checked for traces of Harry at the scene of the crime. Fudge was so committed to removing Harry out of the way that several mistakes were made at the time..." Dumbledore looked at the sobbing Molly Weasley and took a deep breath before continuing "Pettigrew also implied that Ginny Weasley is still alive and took part in the plan, we are still trying to confirm that."

"It's a lie, Albus, I know my little girl. She would never do it, not willingly." Busted Arthur still holding his wife in his arms.

"And where is Harry, Headmaster? Why is he not here at Hogwarts?" asked a befouled Mme. Pomprey.

Sighing, Dumbledore proceeded to explain the members of the Order about how Harry had been released in to the care of his family because he was in great need of medical attention – which got Poppy ranting about the health conditions of Azkaban prisoners upon release. Ignoring the medi-witch, Dumbledore began to outline his plans to bring Harry back.

"I'll go talk to his uncle and aunt. They never had a visit from a member of the staff when Harry got his letter as usually happens with any parents of our muggleborn students. They simply don't know Hogwarts is the best option available. That may be enough to convince them to reapply for admission."

"Mr. Potter may not agree with that." Snape pointed out.

"Once his guardian signs the request and I agree to it, he will have to return." Dumbledore tried to pacify the people in the room.

"Do you really think that forcing him back is the way to go?" muttered Snape from his corner where he was watching the reactions of every person in the room.

"Harry is hurt, yes, but once he is back at Hogwarts, in familiar grounds, he will fall back in to his old self and put the past behind him. It will be better for him in the long run, returning to Hogwarts he will face his problems and move on. He will never be able to forgive his friends otherwise," reassured Dumbledore.

"Of course, headmaster. If you think is the best course of action. I'll prepare a few mild calming draughts just in case. He might need help in the first few days." Snape smiled to the headmaster, "_and since Harry is NOT coming back it means that nobody will need the extra potions. Yes, I just got myself a few hours of well deserved rest. Plot on, old man, you will soon find out that the boy a bit further from your reach than you think and I'll do everything I can to make sure it stays that way._"

The rest of the meeting went smoothly with a few suggestions of how to make Harry 'feel more at home and accepted' – Snape did his best not to laugh out loud or maul anyone because of the inane suggestions he was forced to hear.

-----------

That night, while all the students and the staff were at dinner, Dumbledore made his way back to number 4 Privet Drive. He wanted this matter done and over with as soon as possible. Making sure everything was in order he raised his hand and knocked on the door a few times, a high pitched voice told him that someone inside was coming to answer the door and a few seconds later the door was opened to show an immaculate dressed Petunia Dursley. Her smile disappeared the second she recognized him as a wizard.

"What..." she sputtered only to be interrupted by the smiling old man standing in front of her.

"My dear Mrs. Dursley, I'm not sure if you remember me, I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. May I come in?" he said as he sidestepped her and entered her living room where the other two thirds of the family were currently watching television.

"What do you want here?" Vernon Dursley yelled jumping out of the couch, an impressive feat for a man his size.

"Well, hello, Mr. Dursley" greeted Dumbledore jovially, "I would like to talk to you both about young Harry's education."

"There is nothing to be discussed," boomed Vernon, "the brat is out of the country, he won't be coming back."

"Certainly you must understand that Hogwarts is the best..." tried Dumbledore.

"NO, there will be no discussion on the matter. We never wanted him here and now he is gone," Vernon's tone of voice indicated that his decision was final, "He is out of the country and that is exactly where he will stay! Now, go away before I'm forced to call the police." To emphasize his point Vernon went to the front door and held it open for the headmaster.

Dumbledore was frustrated, now he could not use magic to get the information he needed. Vernon was holding the door open and someone might see if he tried anything. No matter, he would come back another time and try his luck again. Harry was still 16, he couldn't remain hidden a whole year.

As Vernon closed the door behind the old man he couldn't help but smile. His life had suddenly taken a turn up since that blond man had stopped by his office in the morning. Now he had a big fat check in his pocket and a brand new house no freak had the address of to move into tomorrow, all expenses paid for, and all he had to do as to tell the old man his brat of a nephew was abroad. Who cared where the brat really was? He was not coming back and that was all that mattered for Vernon Dursley.

--------

The morning mail in the wizarding world brought several important letters to their destines.

At Malfoy Manor, while Lucius Malfoy read the morning edition of the Daily Prophet displaying the headline "SIRIUS BLACK OFFICIALLY PARDONED BY MINISTRY", the said Mr. Black sitting a few seats down the very same table received a formal letter from the Ministry with his pardon papers signed by the Minister of Magic himself. A fact greatly celebrated by all present at the moment.

At Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore read the official invoice from the Ministry to hand over any items belonging to one Harry James Potter for safe keeping until the rightful owner came to collect them. An _extremely_ accurate list of the said items was included in the letter what let Dumbledore to the suspicion that someone in the Ministry had been in contact with Harry in regard of what had been left at Hogwarts. The sparkle that had been missing on the old headmaster's blue eye returned full force, maybe there was still one thing that he could do to ensure Harry's return to Hogwarts.

Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table received similar letters, only a bit more specific as to what was to be returned. Hermione sighed, she knew this day was coming but she had hoped Harry would be standing right in front of her so she would be able to offer some excuse as to why she was using his cloak... maybe she could send a letter along. Yes, a perfect opportunity to offer all her reasons in a clear, logical manner. She started to make a list of what and how she could say to save her reputation and get her on Harry's good side again.

Ron was fuming. No way he was going give up his broom. The git didn't needed it. He could buy a dozen like it, no only he was already rich before, now the Ministry was giving him even more money as an apology. That was simply not fair, just plain wrong if anyone would ask him.

Hagrid, Neville, Dean and Luna also received a letter each, not from the Ministry and on plain – although of high quality and obviously expensive – white paper and carried by a normal inconspicuous owl. The text was almost identical in each letter. It was a simple thank you note and an apology for not coming personally to say that, with a brief explanation that he was alright and just needed some time away from everything and an offer that if they ever needed anything he would be there for them as they had been for him. It was signed 'your friend, Harry'.

Smiling the four of them put their letters in their pockets and went on with their daily activities. No one noticed their letters.


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: **Trust and Secrecy.  
**Author: **Sakya  
**Summary: **Betrayed and imprisoned, Harry discovers who is who in his life.  
**Rating: **Oh, my! I'm horrible at this one... but I'd have to go with "R", for now.  
**Pairing(s): **Harry/Draco  
**Feedback: **Yes, please.  
**Characters: **At one point or another, the whole crew from the HP Universe.  
**Beta: **The Wonderful Rose.  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine, Not making money, Not getting any recognition from the outside world... Isn't it horrible?  
**Author's Note 01: **Thank you for all the reviews, life threats, bribes, desperate pleas and – my personal favorite – offers of obscene amounts of chocolate. As I said to many of you already, I may be slow but I'm not giving my fics up. They will all be up dated sometime.  
**Author's Note 02: **Yes, yes! I don't know if I said this before but this whole fic started out with a scene between Lucius and Narcissa that I couldn't let go off and just HAD to write it down. I had this scene ready for months just waiting for the right moment – and it is now! Read it at the end of the chapter.

**Author's Note 03:** To all of my reviewers that wanted to beat the living day lights out of Ron and Hermione (remember to e-mail me when you decide when and where), this is not the end of their part in the fic. They will get what they deserve.

**Chapter 08**

**At Hogwarts**

Draco spent almost the whole morning talking to Harry via floo at Snape's quarters. It was an annoyance that only the headmaster's fireplace was able to be used as a means to travel. All the other ones were just for talking – security measures or some other lame excuse.

"I wish I was there to see their reactions" laughed Harry while gently rubbing his hand on his round belly. He was beginning to show more and Draco felt his chest tighten thinking how close he had come to losing his husband and his child.

"I wish you were here all the time, love." Draco offered sincerely, "How are you feeling? Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"No, I'm fine." Said Harry laughing softly. "I have never been so pampered my whole life. I don't think there is a single baby item left in any store this side of the pond... or in the continent by that matter. Narcissa is one serious shopper." Harry indicated the double door behind him where the nursery was being set, "Lucius is already starting a trust fund for the baby and he and Sirius got into an argument last week to decide who would buy the baby's first broom. While they were at it, Remus went out and bought this little child's broom that hovers two feet from the ground... it's so cute. Narcissa yelled at the three of them and locked it away and said she won't let us even try anything until the baby is at least three. She is right, I know, but it was the funniest thing seeing Lucius, Sirius and Remus pouting like children."

Draco was laughing by the time Harry had finished the broom tale. He would have to wait a while before showing Harry the gift Severus had got them. A little training broom (probably just like the one Remus had bought), a child's snitch and a small baby size Slytherin Quidditch uniform. Harry would find it adorable and Sirius would go ballistic with that one. Merlin, he missed his family.

----------

Nothing much changed in the next few days. Almost none of Harry's belongings turned up and the staff was seriously worried about being able to fulfill the Ministry's order.

Albus considered this as he sipped his morning tea watching the Great Hall. Things were not going well. He had gone back to the Durleys quite a few times but they never seemed to be home. Damn his decision to relocate Miss Figg after Harry's imprisonment, but he figured she was no longer needed in Surrey and he already had another mission for her, and now, because of this, it had taken him weeks to discover that the Durleys had moved away with no forwarding address. All his efforts to locate them had been fruitless so far. It was time for plan B.

"May I have your attention, please," said Albus getting to his feet at the head table, "The due date for the returning of Mr. Potter's possessions is fast approaching and I noticed that a few items are still missing," he pointed looked at the Gryffindors' table, "in order to speed up the process I decided to bring a trunk, which will be offered to Mr. Potter in replacement of the one damaged last year, and place it at the entrance hall. Any students holding any of Mr. Potter's belongings are urged to deposit the said item in the trunk so it can be returned. No questions will be asked as how the item found its way in to the students hand, as long as it is returned."

A brand new black trunk with HJP engraved in gold was brought up to the entrance hall and all the teachers made a point of reminding their classes about it and in the next few days a few things became apparent:

One of them was that the main item to be delivered was not Harry's lost possessions but letters. Hermione Granger had put on quite a show of returning Harry's cloak in a nicely wrapped package... along with a letter. It took exactly sixteen minutes before another girl from Ravenclaw added her own letter. The rest of the student body thought that was a smashing idea and followed suit. In a matter of hours the trunk was one third filled with letters, a fact that Mr. North made sure to expose in his next article for The Prophet and pretty soon thousands of letters and packages addressed to Harry Potter from all over the UK made their way into the trunk. No mail was able to reach Harry so far and everybody knew that sooner or later whatever was in the trunk would reach him.

Also, many of Harry's things, even if they were not destroyed, would never find their way in to the collection trunk as they were now considered highly valuable collectable items not only by the students but by the whole wizarding world in general. Harry's copy of "Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them" complete with his name and a few hand written notes on the pages had caused quite a stir in a famous magic auction house, some of the patrons were at the point of hexing each other when the aurors arrived and retrieved the book.

Two less known facts were also discovered by the ones trying to make a profit on the 'Harry Potter's collection' in the black market. One was that once an item found its way into the trunk there was no way you could take it out... and that Albus Dumbledore could be quite creative and effective when it came to hexes and protection wards.

------------

On the eve of the due date for the return of Harry's belongings, Minerva McGonagall checked everything that had been returned to the trunk. Some of the stuff that once belonged to Harry Potter was fine, but much had been damaged by whoever had been handling the objects. A few items had been destroyed – like his Quidditch uniform after the Gryffindor team had lost rather spectacularly to Ravenclaw, and his photo album, Ronald Weasley and the rest of her lions had been particularly mad at how many points had been taken from them some day because of things they were saying about Harry and 'took matters in to their own hands'.

Minerva set Harry's old school books she had in her hand in the trunk in front of her and checked her list to see what else was missing. Hermione Granger had returned what she had in her possession in a tidy package and surprisingly Filch had some of Harry's books with him. Many items were still missing and they would have to be replaced if possible. The biggest problem was Harry's broom, Weasley simply refused to return it. Minerva sighed, there was only one thing she could do. She had to call Molly. 

Thankfully the red haired witch was already at Hogsmeade, Merlin only knew how many more wizards and witches were already there too. For the past three days they came pouring out of the train station and floo network. All of them, men, women and children waiting for a chance to see the hero of the hour, the renewed hope of the wizarding world. Mr. Harry Potter.

Minerva could only hope Harry wouldn't be too crossed at the sight of so many people. Merlin knew how much he hated the spotlight.

----------

That same evening Mrs. Weasley was seen walking the grounds. Her visit to Hogwarts became a very well known fact. Nobody actually _heard_ what was said in the headmaster's office, but a very pale and shaken Ronald Weasley was seen coming out of it and soon after a shiny Firebolt could be seen in the trunk at the entrance hall.

All they needed to do now was to wait twenty four more hours before Harry Potter showed up and collected his stuff.

---------

On the scheduled day every single reporter in the Wizarding World seemed to be hovering around the school grounds, along with half of its population. A person could easily come to the conclusion that a national holiday had been declared and a full blown party was taking place on the streets of Hogsmeade.

A whole line of Harry Potter paraphernalia was being sold on the spot. Lightning bolt candy of every possible flavor, little chocolate Firebolt brooms, sugar white owls, a brand new card with Harry's picture was being sold in a special edition chocolate frog box, Gryffindor cauldron cakes with their icing done in red and gold, posters with Harry's face and every other possible product they could associate with Harry Potter was on display.

Dumbledore was beaming. Harry would certainly be moved by the sheer display of appreciation from his fellow wizards. That would make him see that there was still good people in the British magical community and help him change his mind and stay at Hogwarts. Yes. Everything would go perfectly. The small children added a particularly nice touch to the party.

Precisely at noon, the bright red engine of the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station. A big cheerful committee was there waiting for the boy-who-lived.

Dumbledore watched as the passengers began to disembark from the train From a special car, at the end of the train, first came eight aurors, four members of the school board – one of them being Lucius Malfoy, a very somber looking Minister Fudge and a absolutely scowling Sirius Black. No Harry Potter was amongst them, however.

"Sirius, my boy" greeted Dumbledore with his best 'grandfather smile', "I'm so happy to have you here. Did you have a good journey?" (_Damn, I forgot about Sirius. Of course the boy got in contact with his godfather. I should have looked him up when his name was cleared, but with this whole mess with Harry I let that one slip._)

"Yes, Albus," greeted Sirius using the headmaster's first name just to show the old man they were on even footing here, "it was very pleasant, but a bit long. Is there something wrong with the floo network around here?"

"No, no," chuckled Dumbledore, pretending not to notice as Sirius made clear he knew Dumbledore had made them take the 'long way around', "I just thought young Harry would enjoy the familiar ride to school. Where is he? He didn't get ill on the train, I hope."

"Of course not," offered Sirius and Dumbledore smiled looking around once more expecting to see Harry amongst the new arrivals. "It's a school day, Albus, I think he is in class as we speak."

"He didn't..." Albus sputtered, that was not in the plans. Harry was supposed to come personally to retrieve his belongings.

"Come? No, it was a consensual decision that this would be too much of an emotional turmoil for him. He is not back to what he was yet, still needs time and all that. As someone who has his best interest in mind, I'm sure you agree."

"As someone who has his best interest in mind I was hoping to see Harry returning to Hogwarts at the earliest date possible. I don't think Harry being away from Hogwarts any longer is actually the best for him, Sirius. Any _responsible_ adult would realize that the safest place for Harry is here and bring him back."

"Harry is perfectly safe, Albus. He is very well protected." Replied Sirius getting annoyed with the older man's attitude, not missing the emphasis on the 'responsible' word.

"Hogwarts has the best and strongest wards, Sirius..." Dumbledore started only to be interrupted by the animagus.

"You're right, of course. I should transfer Harry back immediately. Merlin only knows what kind of dangers he will be exposed to out of here," Sirius spoke almost to himself. Albus smiled knowing he had won the argument, but then Sirius went on, shattering his illusions, "There could be a teacher working undercover for Voldemort... or even possessed by him! There could be some dark monster lurking around the corners to kill the students and he would be forced to face it alone! Trolls could be making their way in as we speak! Some escapee from Azkaban could simply waltz through the wards and stand over his bed with a knife on his hands! Oh, Merlin. He could be portkeyd out of the school while engaged in some extracurricular activity and end up having to face the Dark Lord in a graveyard!!! And on all of those situations the school staff could sit idly by and let him face all those dangers alone!" Sirius made an absolutely horrified face that caused Lucius to almost lose his stoic mask and break in to fits of laughter, "Oh, wait... those things already happened, didn't they? And where exactly did they happen? At your completely safe and well protected school. Face it, Albus, Harry's life was always at risk here. This is the very first year in his magical education that he is having some kind of peace and I intend to make sure it stays that way. Now, I believe you have some things that belong to my godson." He finished with a scowl.

Albus sighed realizing that he wouldn't get any where with Sirius angry as he was. Things were going harder than they should. At least he had placed some tracking charms on Harry's trunk, one way or the other, Harry would be back at Hogwarts before the school year was out.

The group got in to the seemingly horseless carriages and slowly, due to the number of people in the road, made its way to the school. The news about Harry's absence was traveling fast leaving a lot of disappointed people on its wake.

At the school, Minister Fudge brought himself to his full height, which was not very impressive, and with a overblown sense of self importance began to check his list and the trunk to see if everything had been returned. The absence of Harry's photo album was a particular sore spot in the afternoon.

"Now, Sirius, I trust everything will be delivered to Mr. Potter as soon as possible with our sincere apologies for the missing items." Dumbledore stated seriously. 

"Not everything, Albus." Answered Sirius producing a piece of parchment from his pockets, "There are a few things Harry wanted me to do with some of his things."

"Oh." Albus was confused, what was this all about?

Sirius went over the trunk and gathered a few of Harry's old school books and uniforms, an odd looking sneakoscope, two sets of wizarding chess and a few more odd items and separating them in four different piles. He turned to the reporters who were writing furiously.

"My godson, Harry, wanted me to give these to the following institutions." He read the note on his hand, "the first pile goes to the Werewolf Support Foundation. He hopes that the money raised with the sale of these items will help to make the lives of those afflicted with lycanthropy a bit easier."

"The second and third piles go to the wizarding orphanages dedicated to children who lost their parents because of the dark lord. The fourth pile goes to the muggle orphanage dedicated to the same cause. Harry heard about the auction where a book of his was found and thought it was a good idea, he hopes that his donations help those in need."

"Mr. Black, where is Harry Potter? Are you keeping him secluded somewhere?" asked Rita Skeeter, rumor had it she was very cross with Rudolf North for getting 'her Harry scopes' all the time and intended to get back in the game anyway she could.

"How is Harry?" another reported shouted and Sirius raised his hands silencing them before all hell broke lose.

"Harry is fine. He is safe, happy and studying at a beautiful location. He's got lots of sunshine and care. His health is improving after such a long exposure to the dementors and well on his way to a full recovery. He won't be coming back any time soon as he now has the peace and quiet he needs. He will be sad to know that some of his most valued possessions are gone forever but he is ready to move on with his life. Thank you for your attention. That will be all." Sirius hastily made his retreat to the headmaster's office where all the official documents would be signed before the reporters were able to launch the next round of questions.

An official list of everything that was in the trunk was drawn and signed by Sirius, Albus and Fudge.

"Harry won't be pleased that you let other people get a hold of his things, Albus. I hope you realize that." Sirius said as he was preparing to leave with Hedwig on his arm.

"Yes, about that. I feel it would be best if I could explain everything to Harry personally. Certainly you won't deny that to an old man." Albus said looking sad.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll tell Harry that you requested a meeting. It won't be possible before the end of the school year, you know. But I'll see if he can drop by after his birthday next year." With that Sirius smiled and left a furious Dumbledore behind him. There was no way he would let the old man get his hands on Harry before he was officially an adult... and even after that he would make sure Harry would not be alone with the man at anytime.

----------

**On the darker side of the fence**

Later that day Narcisa found Harry sitting by the window at his room. Sirius was looking lost while trying to comfort his godson. Harry was curled up on a couch, clutching the Ministry list in his hand and she could tell he was still crying. It broke her heart. She nodded at Sirius, who got the message and left them alone, there were things only a mother could make better.

"_Poor child. Life has been so tough for him._" She sat by him and pulled him into her arms holding him tight as she had held Draco when he was younger. "It doesn't matter, love, we will work something out. We'll have new photos, new memories. Everything will work out. You'll see." She rocked him gently and let him cry over this new betrayal: the loss of his possessions that somehow hurt more than what had happened before, maybe because it was the final insult after the loss of innocence, friendship, beloved ones... she let him cry until she felt him relax in her arms. She desperately wanted to make him feel better.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't we write your muggle relatives for a copy of whatever photo they have of your parents? We could even invite them over for tea if you like. I'm sure Lucius will find a way to smuggle them in..." She was cut short by a bitter laugh from Harry.

"Won't that be precious?" he asked softly. The edge of bitterness in his voice told Narcissa that something else was amiss there.

"Why, sweetie? Don't you want them to come?"

"They hate me," Harry stated quietly.

"No, I'm sure they don't. They are your family; they love you," Narcissa reassured him.

"Wouldn't that be something? No, they hate me. I know that, they never bothered to hide it from me. In fact, they were quite vocal about it." 

"Harry." Narcissa could feel that this was what she had sensed out of place in Harry and he was finally opening up; the next few minutes would be very important if Harry would ever heal from whatever was hurting inside him. "Why would you say that? How can you be so sure, dear?"

Harry sighed. She could feel him tensing up again. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. It's the thing that matters the most in the whole world." Narcissa let her hand draw small circles on Harry's back, keeping his head resting against her shoulder. "And I want you to tell me how you know that."

Harry sighed again and remained in silence for a moment. Narcissa let him collect his thoughts, knowing this was important for her son-in-law, and then Harry began to talk. He talked for hours, telling her everything, letting it all from his chest. He cried a lot too, and Narcissa held him tight the whole time. When he was finally done, he thanked her with a soft kiss on her cheek and accepted her help going to bed. She tucked him in, giving him a kiss on his forehead and wishing him pleasant dreams, like a mother would to a small child, then she left the room to let him sleep.

---------- 

Lucius stepped out of the fireplace in the parlor only to find his wife sitting on a chair facing him. All the lights were out and only the fire behind him illuminated the room. He couldn't remember a colder expression on her face.

"_Merlin, I hope she is not mad at me,_" he thought, knowing his wife's temper all too well. "Good evening, darling. May I ask what has kept you up to this hour?"

"Lucius, I have always been a good wife, have I not?" Her tone was ice cold.

"Yes, of course my darling. What brought this up?"

Narcissa held her hand up, indicating for him to hold.

"Ever since before we were married, I followed your lead, supported your decisions and never doubted your word."

"True," Lucius offered, raising an eyebrow. This did not sound very good. He knew that tone all too well. Narcissa was mad at someone or something and she was out for blood. It amused Lucius to no end that people would think him ruthless; they would be in for a rude awakening if they ever came face to face with the true Narcissa Malfoy. She was a pure force of nature. That is what he loved so much about her.

"You decided to follow this Dark Lord and I supported your decision. I never said a single thing. When Draco came home with the news of his bond to none other than the Boy-Who-Lived, I feared for his life; when he told us about the baby, I feared for all their lives. I knew that you could turn them over to the Dark Lord and demand a new heir from me. I truly don't know if I would be able to go through with that, but I never said anything against you or whatever judgment you were to call on that case. I was very pleased when you spared his life, when you decided to support him and help to clear Harry's name. We are a very happy family again and I thank you for that. I am not naïve, I know we are in danger, but I thank you for taking this chance."

Lucius was getting more and more worried as Narcissa went on. Whatever it was, this was serious.

"But now I must ask for something and I won't take 'no' for an answer--also, it will have to be a secret between us. I don't want Harry to ever dream of my, or your, involvement in what I am about to ask you."

"You have my word, darling." Lucius formally bowed before Narcissa. He had no idea what she would ask of him, but he knew her well enough to know it was important.

"I'm aware that you know the address of Harry's muggle relatives," Narcissa said.

Lucius nodded and started to prepare himself to live in the same house with muggles for a while. She would most certainly want to bring Harry's family to live with him. A lovely thought, he should have considered it earlier. Narcissa's next words however shattered his illusions about future living arrangements.

"I want them dead."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I want them dead. I want their last hours or even their last days to be spent in pain and despair. I want them drowning in their own blood, gasping desperately for air... I want them to be the Death Eaters favorite fuck-toy, punching bag and target for spell practice. I want their bodies to be a road map for pain and torture. I want to hear them scream and beg for death." Narcissa was trembling now; Lucius had never seen her like this.

"Isn't that a bit too much, darling?"

"No, dear, it's not. Let me tell you a thing or two I just discovered about the lovely people that live at that address you protect so much, and then you tell me if it is too much."

The Malfoys sat by the fire for another three hours while Narcissa told Lucius everything she had learned from Harry a few hours before. Once she was done, Lucius got up to put his cloak back on.

"Don't wait up for me, darling. I believe the Dark Lord would be very pleased to receive this address as soon as I can come up with a plausible excuse as how I got it. He will want to torture the whereabouts of Potter out of these muggles himself. After all, he is desperate to know where Harry is and who better to have that knowledge than his relatives, the only ones he has out of the Wizarding World."

Narcissa smiled and helped her husband to clasp his cloak. "Hurry, my darling, we don't want to keep his lordship waiting."

And Lucius stepped through the floo network.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09**

Harry woke up the next day feeling relieved of a great burden. He had never noticed before how much the years he had lived with the Dursleys were still haunting him. Last night Narcissa had held him in her arms while he cried and spilled his whole life to her, every hateful word, every abuse, every chore, every bruise, his cupboard, his clothes, Harry hunting, not having birthdays nor Christmas, everything, even the things he though to be to small to be told before.

And she held him the whole time.

It was like finally having a mother after all this time. Not that he never had been hugged before, he had. Mrs. Weasley, before everything happened, always hugged him on King's Cross on the way to and from school... and every summer when he was allowed to go to the Burrow, but last night, Narcissa hugged him for hours while he cried, comforted him, tucked him in bed and kissed him good night, like a real mother did.

Still, he was a bit embarrassed to have cried like he did and vowed to apologize as soon as possible. Making up his mind, Harry started the long and embarrassing process of getting out of bed with his huge belly. At moments like this he could swear that, no matter how many times his doctor had reassured him he was only carrying one baby, that he was about to give birth to at least half a dozen babies all at once.

Finally with just a bit of effort, Harry made into the bathroom and started to prepare himself for the day.

"_I'm beginning to behave like a Malfoy,_" smiled Harry to his reflection in the mirror, "_It didn't use to take me this long in the morning... Merlin, I'm married to Draco... I'M A MALFOY... wow, it took almost a year to sink in! Snape will never let me live this down if he ever finds out it took this long for the other shoe to drop._"

Laughing at his own silliness, Harry went back to the bedroom and chose an outfit. His good mood lasted until he arrived at the morning room where his family was already having breakfast. A very somber group greeted him that morning.

"What happened? Is Draco alright? Did anyone get hurt? Why..." Harry blurted out.

"Harry! Calm down," interrupted Lucius putting one hand at the young man's shoulder, "We are just talking about yesterday's events... among a few other things."

"What other things?" Harry narrowed his eyes noticing how the others seemed uncomfortable. "What is it?"

"Well," started Sirius, "you know how we took your trunk to Grimmauld Place because everything in there had already been replaced and the real personal stuff..." Sirius didn't want to say 'destroyed' and depress his godson so he let the sentence unfinished but Harry understood and nodded.

"Yes, it's not like I'll have any use for Hogwarts school robes anytime soon, is it?" joked Harry. It was true, when they decided to do the home school thing they had bought all the books, parchment, quills, ink and everything else they could possibly need. And since there was no need for Harry to get emotional going over his old stuff, especially this far along in the pregnancy, they decided that his old stuff would be either donated to charity like Sirius had already done with most of it or kept away from Harry's eyes until he decided it was time to deal with it. No place was more out of site than Grimmauld Place, so the trunk was taken there.

"Harry, dear, have a seat," said Narcissa patting the chair beside her, "We... Well, Remus and Sirius discovered a few spells on the trunk."

"Spells? What spells?" asked Harry worried.

"Now, Harry, listen to me. You have to remain calm for us to have this conversation. Can you do that?" said Remus, "Stressing over this won't be good for you nor the baby."

"Just tell me." Demanded Harry with clenched teeth.

"We found a few tracking charms on random items and on the trunk itself." Sirius said carefully.

"Oh, I was kind of expecting that" Harry relaxed but noticed the strange expressions on the faces around the table, "was there anything else?"

"Hum..." Lucius cleared his throat before continuing with a smirk, "Apparently you are still both hated and loved by the wizarding world again."

Harry raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

"The tracking spells were a given, Dumbledore would never let go so easy but..." Lucius was almost laughing now and Harry noticed Sirius turning a deep shade of red. "Well, there were a few jinxes, which was also expected, some of your ex-schoolmates are firm believers in the same doctrine their parents profess."

"yes..." Harry urged him to continue, but Remus was the one to do it.

"You see, Sirius here, decided to check your stuff himself but he started to use some very specific spells to find tracking spells and jinxes...(chuckles) but completely forgot to check for anything else and... (laughter) and..." and Remus finally lost the battle and started to laugh so hard he couldn't continue.

"What happened?" 

"Well, apparently some fifth year Hufflepuff is very found of you and decided to make you like her just as well and placed a few... extremely creative charms over some of your possessions" helped Lucius barely hiding his amusement, by his side Narcissa was giggling behind a napkin. Harry was finding this whole situation all too amusing even if he did not know what had happen yet, especially since Sirius was turning a deeper shade of red by the minute.

"Alright, alright," his godfather finally had enough and got up from the table, "you all had your fun. This is all very funny, ha ha. We don't have to talk about it anymore. Harry, it's time for your lessons. Come on, let's get going. We have a lot to do today and..." Sirius was half way dragging Harry out of the room before Harry could say anything. The others were of no help since they were now laughing openly at the man's antics.

"Wait, Sirius, I haven't had breakfast yet. Wait." Harry resisted his godfather the best he could having to also take into consideration the extra weight of his belly... plus there was no way in hell he would leave this room without knowing what had made his godfather so uncomfortable and got the others laughing so hard at the same time. "I have to eat, doctor's orders. Remember?"

"You are not letting me off the hook on this one, are you?" Sirius said sighed loudly.

"Uh... nope."

"Not even if I ask nicely?" Sirius batted his eyelashes pretending to flirt with Harry.

"Uh... nope." Harry was having way too much fun with this and Sirius knew it was a lost battle.

"Ok... so I wrote a few bad poems and made Kreacher deliver them dressed up as a cupid. No biggie..."

Whatever Sirius was planning to say next was muffled by a roar of laughter by all of the others present in the room. The picture of Kreacher dressed like a cupid running after a poor oblivious Hufflepuff trying to deliver love poems proved to be just a bit much for their attempts of composure. Harry had to sit down in order not to fall on the floor in fits of laughter.

Sirius, with all the dignity he could muster, left the room mumbling about crazy cousins, deranged werewolves and ungrateful godsons who showed no appreciation for a poor man's suffering. It only made the ones in the morning room laugh harder. 

Once they all managed to calm down and resume taking their breakfast, Narcissa turned to Harry with a happy glint in her eyes. 

"And how are you feeling this morning, my dear?" she asked sweetly, "I trust you had a good night of rest?"

"Yes, mother." Harry answered smiling, "Thank you for your patience last night. I'm sorry I was such a bother."

"Never, darling, you are never a bother," Narcissa petted Harry's hand reassuring, "but there is something we should talk about." She looked at Lucius asking for his assistance. They had talked this morning and decided that perhaps a little public humiliation was in order before the real torture began. They had sometime before Voldemort got his hands on the Dursleys.

Flashback

Lucius aparated to Riddle Manor where Voldemort was hiding and plotting. Lucius bowed to the snakelike creature and waited to be acknowledged. His only problem now was to find a way to deliver the Dursleys to Voldemort since they moved... with the money he had provided them.

"_Well, I remember where the fat idiot works, I very much doubt he will have changed jobs along with his place of residence... yes, that might work._" Lucius thought about this for a few more minutes until Voldemort brought Lucius back to reality.

"Yessss, Luciusss."

"My lord. I was at Hogwarts today where Sirius Black went to collect Potter's trunk."

"I know, Luciussss, you told me that before. Do you believe me to feeble minded I would have forgotten already? Hummm?" hissed Voldemort.

"No, my lord. It's just that something occurred to me while I was there." A cold shiver run through Lucius while he reconsidered the cleverness of his plans.

"Tell me, Luciussss, what issss ssso important to bring you hhhhere thisss time of the night?"

"His family, my lord."

"Proceed"

"The boy has left everything behind, but he is very attached to his family, especially now that he has lost all his friends." Lucius added quickly, "Black might be hard to find because of the magic wards protecting him, but his muggle family, even with their house protected, has to work, attend school and go through their everyday business. Those places are probably unprotected, with a little bit of digging I'm sure we can come up with the information we need to capture those muggles and deliver a hard blow on the boy." 

"Your plan has merit, Luciusss." Voldemort pondered for a few seconds, "you may proceed. Find me those muggles. It's past time to get better acquainted with the last living relatives of our dear boy-who-lived."

Lucius flooed back home to inform Narcissa that his plans were already underway, but he was not satisfied. Sure, the dark lord would cause them pain and probably even kill them and he would help, but something else was missing. 

Suddenly, Lucius knew what it was. Harry's revenge, that was what. Harry needed to know that justice had been done and he would never agree with the delivery of the muggles to Voldemort. Something would have to be done about it and Narcissa and him would figure out how to go about that.

End of flashback 

"Harry," started Lucius getting the young man's attention, he could see apprehension in those big emerald eyes, "we have been talking and..." the fear in Harry's eyes was almost overwhelming, there was no way he could go through this without reinforcements. 

"Jirby!" a small popping sound indicated the arrival of the little house-elf.

"Yes, Master Lucius, sir. How may Jirby serv?"

"Tell Mr. Black we need him here." As the elf disappeared Lucius turned back to Harry. Lupin was also intrigued about what was going on. He could tell that Harry was getting more and more nervous but he couldn't notice anything on Lucius or Narcissa that could be translated as a threat. They smelled normal, if not a bit... sad?

"What is going on?" he and Sirius asked almost at the same time. Sirius sat next to Harry and looked around to the grave faces in the room, "Whatever it was, I didn't do it?"

His little joke was able to diffuse some of the tension, but Lucius wanted to get over the problem as fast as he could.

"No. It's not anything you did, Sirius. Although I'm sure you did something. This is something that should have been done long ago but only now came to our attention." Lucius sat back at the table and looked Harry strait in the eyes. "Harry, what you told Narcissa last night is very serious and something must be done about it."

"No, please," Harry was almost panicking, "It's done and over with. I'm not going back there and there is nothing else they can do to hurt me. Let's just forget about it."

"No. It was a crime, Harry." Said Narcissa taking Harry's hand in to hers and noticing how cold it was, "What they did was wrong and we have to inform the authorities."

"What? Who did what? What are you talking about?" asked Sirius jumping out of his chair and kneeling next to Harry, taking his free hand in to his. "Who wronged you, puppy? Your friends at school, something new came up?"

"No, just let it drop. Please. It's not important anymore. It's ancient history." Begged Harry.

"Harry," Remus called using his most soothing voice, "If you still get upset about it, it's not over and it's not past. It's here and if hurts you we will deal with it. What is it?"

"It's... it's just..." Harry couldn't go on. He buried his face in Narcissa's shoulder and started to cry.

"It's ok, dear. Everything will work out in the end. You're with your family now. We'll take care of you." Narcissa said rubbing small circles on Harry's back.

"What is going on, Lucius?" Sirius asked completely lost at his godson's reaction.

"Last night, after Harry received that blasted list from the Ministry stating all that was lost he had a minor breakdown and talked to Narcissa about his childhood."

Remus knew what was coming, he placed a hand on Sirius arm to make sure the hot headed animagus would not do anything rushed.

"And then what? What happened? Why is he like that?" Sirius acknowledge his friend's presence and did his best to rein over his famous temper.

"Harry had a... very difficult childhood. Some of the things his... those muggles did are punishable both in the wizarding as well as in the muggle world, and we think he should go, at the very least, to the muggle authorities and make sure they pay for what they did."

"The authorities?" Harry asked weakly, "you're not going to take matters in to your own hands or make me do something?"

"No. No dear. Nothing like that," Narcissa assured him, "but you deserve justice. We are not making you seek out revenge and wallow in rage. It won't be good for you or the baby, but making sure they are brought before justice, even muggle justice, will help you heal. Look how much they still affect you. You're freezing, shaking and crying just because we mentioned the subject."

"You all think its best to prosecute them with the law?"

Sirius was seething. He wanted to go out the door and bring justice to the Dursleys with his own hands and massive use of violence, but he understood that it would help Harry a lot more to see them punished for what they did without the guilt for their early demise. And the boy would feel guilty if anything happened to them on his account. 

"Yes, Harry," Sirius sighed, "It's the best thing to do." He could feel Remus petting him on his shoulder, letting him know he had said the right thing and took some comfort in that.

"Ok, them. I'll talk to... who should I talk to?" 

"I'll call a muggle policeman I know. He will tell me what to do." Offered Remus.

"I'll call my lawyer." Added Lucius, "we'll make sure you don't have to go through anything that is not absolutely necessary."

"Thank you," Harry tried to get up but felt dizzy and had to sit down again, "I don't feel so good."

"I'll call Redwood," said Remus stepping out of the room to make the floo call.

"What is wrong with him?" asked Sirius nervously.

"He just had a bit too much excitement in the past few hours," informed Narcissa, "He needs to lay down for a bit. I'll help him to his rooms. Lucius, darling, could you send us some tea, please?"

Narcissa helped Harry return to his room slowly and tucked him back in to bed, sitting by his side to keep him company until the healer arrive. As they left the morning room, Sirius turned to Lucius.

"Once this justice mumbo jumbo is done, I'll do some punishing of my own. Don't try to stop me."

"I won't," said Lucius matter-of-factly, "but I do advise you to hurry with your plans because someone else might be planning the same thing... for different reasons."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, it's just that I might have let slip to the dark lord that Harry's muggle family might be easier to find and that maybe using them to send the boy-who-lived a message would be a good idea."

"Why, cousin. That was a horrible thing to happen." Sirius couldn't keep an evil smile of his face.

"Completely accidental, I tell you." The smirk on Lucius' face would have put cats to shame.

"I have no doubt... but what if Harry finds out?" 

"We'll know when the bodies will be discovered, we'll just make sure he doesn't read the papers for a few days. He'll only find out after the baby's birth when he is well out of danger... if he ever finds out." And with that the two men agree to never mention the subject again. Some of the things you do for your family are better left unsaid, no matter how necessary or justifiable they are.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note:**  
The dessert I mention on this chapter was found at but I must say I haven't tried yet, but that is something I soon intend to remedy.

**Chapter 10**

Healer Redwood came out of the luxurious bedroom to face four very anxious pair of eyes. He was relieved to see that his young patient had people who cared for him. Merlin knew how much he needed.

"He is fine," he assured them, "He had a few shocks lately and that made his blood pressure oscillate a bit. He is eating his breakfast and I recommend bed rest for the rest of the morning at the very least. The whole day would be preferable."

"Of course, Healer," Narcissa volunteered, the three men in the room just nodded. "Is there anything else we could do?"

"Just make sure he has as little excitement as possible. His stay in prison did a great damage to his nervous system. His mood swings might be more accentuated than average and his emotional control will be in an all time low. Try keeping him happy and take things with him as slow as possible."

The grown-ups exchanged an odd look between them and Redwood sighed. His patient was Harry Potter, of course something out of the ordinary was bound to happen and by the look he had seen things were already in motion.

"Is there something I should know about?" he asked hoping to do some damage control in his patient health.

"You must understand, Master Healer," Lucius started carefully, "that everything said in this house is to be kept a secret."

"Of course." He nodded.

"I'll go check on Harry," Narcissa got up and went to Harry's bedroom.

"I'll go with you." Offered Remus holding the door for her. This was a matter for Sirius and Lucius. Narcissa and Remus would stay in the background allowing them room to do whatever was necessary while making sure Harry got all the attention he needed.

"It has come to our attention that the magical world was not the only place my son-in-law received unjust treatment." Started Lucius.

"My godson has let slip that while he was at his muggle relatives he was severely abused by those people. We knew his childhood had not been ideal, but we had no idea things were as bad as he told us." Sirius added.

"How bad? If I may ask."

"Very bad. Verbal and psychological abuse, neglect, physical abuse, starvation... the list goes on. We believe we need a mind healer." 

"How long was he exposed to this sort of treatment?" Redwood was already in healer mode, considering possible candidates to offer the job. He knew a few very competent mind healers at St. Mungo's and there was a fellow or two in Germany making great progress in the field.

"Every day for about ten years and every summer ever since." Sirius answered with a dark expression on his face.

It took all of Redwood's training not to show how shocked he was. It was worse than he expected.

"Yes, Mr. Potter-Malfoy would probably benefit from the expertise of a mind healer. Let me suggest a colleague of mine who is a specialist on children. I know it's not the case but with the pregnancy adding to an already stressful situation, and since his traumas seem to be rooted in his early childhood, perhaps it would be more beneficial to secure the aid of a professional who is extra careful and patient." Redwood wrote down the name of a mind healer at St. Mungo's. Lucius took the time to explain to him about the upcoming investigation and possible muggle trial of young Harry's relatives. There was no time to overcome a language barrier and gain trust on the mind healer, even if the said barrier was due only to accent. In a situation like this it was always better to gain trust as soon as possible.

When the healer left, Sirius turned to Lucius with a tired face.

"So, are we doing this?" he asked.

"Yes, I do believe is for the best." Lucius sighed looking out of the window, "I don't know what surprises me more. That he lived through all this or simply that he lived."

"I know. It is rather much for one so young."

"It would be too much for anyone older too," Lucius looked at the name and floo address in the parchment in his hands, "if he is going to do this and be ready in time for the trial he will need all the support he can have."

"What are you talking about, Lucius?"

"Perhaps it's time for Narcissa to become ill," said Lucius with a strange smile.

"I don't think I understand where you are going with this." Sirius stated.

"If Narcissa becomes ill, we would need a healer to make frequent visits, what would explain the comings and goings of a healer in this house." Lucius made a pause letting the information sink in, before adding another important detail, "Also, we could call Draco back home for a few weeks. I do believe Harry would be pleased to have him here for the birth of their child."

"That, cousin, is a great plan," complemented Sirius with a large smile on his face.

---------- 

Over the next few days, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were seen twice in St. Mungo's and healer Redwood, the Malfoy family healer, let it slip that one of his patients was coming down with a rather obscure illness and that he would need to make more frequent visits to their house, also he started to take a colleague mind healer with him ostensibly to 'give some support' for his patient.

No one had said a word about who this patient might be or what kind of illness was afflicting the poor soul, but the social drums of the wizarding world were already beating, Narcissa Malfoy had fallen ill and it was serious. She was not been seen in public and Mr. Malfoy was not talking about it.

Wizarding high society respected the unspoken wish and sent their support in the form or flowers or letters. No one came for a visit. Not surprisingly, in a few days the heir of the house Malfoy took his leave from Hogwarts. His school work would be handled by owl and a tutor for a few months.

----------

Harry was dreaming of Draco again, only this time he knew it was a dream because it had that cotton candy warm feeling only dreams can give you.

_They were lying down side by side in the thick rug under blinking lights of the Christmas tree. Draco ran his soft hands over Harry's large belly, caressing him while they talked about their baby._

Tons and tons of gifts where everywhere wrapped in all shades and colors, low soft music played in the background and two mugs with hot steamy cocoa sat in the coffee table near by. A little giggle caught Harry's attention and he turned to see a girl, just a toddler, running up to him with a toy broom on her hands. She had jet black hair, full rosy lips and mischievous grey eyes.

"Daddy, daddy, father and I are going flying outside, you have to come with us." She said pulling him up to his feet.

"So, he let you open that present already, huh?" Harry laughed and turned to Draco "What ever happen to 'we should wait until after Christmas'?"

"Baby Kate here decided that she couldn't wait to try her broom and I'm not the one who will ever keep a Potter from getting airborne." Draco was wearing his Slytherin Quidditch uniform and holding his broom as well.

"I'm not the baby anymore, father, remember?" asked Kate running to a small crib adorned with blue laces on the side of the room, "Bernard is here. He is the baby now."

"You're right. You are my big girl Katherine. How could I forget that?" Draco grabbed Kate by her waist and spun around making her giggle even more.

Harry walked to the crib and picked up a bundle of white blond hair and sparkly green eyes. He looked out the window to see the ocean, it was the most amazing blue he had ever seen with clear see through water. On the grass just outside the house Draco was playing with a dog and two black haired boys, Bernard looking like a little over 12 was running up to the house still dripping from the sea and a 15 year old Kate was sitting under a tree reading a book.

A hand come down on his shoulder and made him turn around. The room was lit by many candles and he could see it was dark outside. He kissed the twins before a house elf took them to their rooms and turned to the other people sitting around the room. He could see Lucius, Narcissa, Remus, Sirius, Draco, Kate looking a bit older and Bernard looking almost 15 now and a few people he didn't recognize. They were all dressed in full battle robes and had a somber look on their faces. Draco walked up to him and kissed him on the lips.

"It's time, love. We can't wait anymore, we have to go back," and turning around he entered the green flames in the fireplace and yelled, "Ministry of Magic"

Harry woke up with a start. He was lying on his bed, his big belly firmly in its place. Kate, baby Kate was still inside him, waiting to be born. He ran his hands down on his belly only to find another set of hands already there. He turned around in bed to find a sleeping Draco lying next to him.

Moving slowly not to wake his husband, Harry got up and waddled to the bathroom as fast as he could. Baby Kate was being particularly found of his bladder lately. He did his business as fast as he could, washed his hands and waddled back to bed. He laid down and placed Draco's hand back on his belly, ready to go back to sleep, only to hear an amused voice close to his ear.

"You look like a very happy cat, love." The low voice sent shivers down Harry's spine and he pressed himself against his husband, "planning on going back to sleep?"

"Oh, you're awake. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up," Harry smiled in his husband's embrace, "and the thought did cross my mind. I've been very sleepy lately." 

"Our son is giving you a hard time, isn't he?" Draco murmured caressing Harry's belly.

"Our son happens to be a very healthy girl who likes to practice sports around my belly."

"A girl? Really? When did you do the spell?" Draco perked up, "I thought you said you would wait for me. What changed your mind?"

"I didn't change my mind, silly," Harry laughed at the mock hurt face Draco was putting on, "I just had a dream and Kate was complaining that you still called her a baby when we already had Bernard in a crib near by." 

Draco opened a huge smile. "Really, did you just dream of them? Kate and Bernard?"

"Yes, well, actually they were Katherine and Bernard, and a couple of twins, but I didn't catch their names." Harry corrected.

"Tell me more about this dream, love." Draco pulled Harry against him and they started to talk about Harry's dream. Draco agreed with Harry that the end was a bit disturbing but couldn't stop asking all kinds of questions about the other, happier, parts of the dream.

"Draco, not that I'm not happy and all, but how come you're here?" Harry asked.

"Well," Draco sighed, "the rest of the family is a bit worried with this being your first pregnancy and all the trouble you went through in the first few months, so they decided to cut us some slack and I'm allowed to stay with you until the baby is born."

"Oh, thank Merlin. I was so scared to go through birth without you here." The relief in Harry's voice was obvious.

"What? And miss the single most important event of the year? Not a chance, love, I'm a Malfoy. Remember?" Draco asked in mock shock.

"How could I ever forget?" Harry laughed in his husband's embrace and leaning to kiss him. The kiss started out soft and gentle but heated up almost instantaneously. "Do we have to get up now?"

"Merlin, I hope not. I've been missing you so much." Draco had his hands running all over his husband now. He couldn't believe how beautiful Harry looked pregnant with their child. He was beautiful before but now he had this dream quality like an aura of happiness and... life. That was it, Harry was life itself and he had been without his husband for way too long to even contemplate not touching him now. 

Harry had his mobility seriously reduced because of the pregnancy, so he let Draco run the show. Draco hovered on top of him kissing and touching him all over, not a single inch of skin was left untouched. His nipples were so over sensitive that he had to beg Draco to stop touching then, Draco's revenge was to lie between Harry's legs and take him whole into his mouth.

In two seconds Harry was too aroused to form words to beg or deny Draco anything. Draco smirked around Harry's manhood in his mouth; an aroused Harry was definitely a very nice Harry and that afternoon Harry was a very nice Harry in bed, in the shower and in bed again before they were finally called for dinner.

Family dinner that night was a quiet but happy affair. Harry was happy to have his husband back with him but he could notice a few looks being exchanged around the table and knew something was going on. He waited as long as he could for someone to drop whatever bomb they had until the house elves started to remove the used dishes and started to serve desert.

"So... is there anything new in the wizarding world that I haven't heard of yet?" he asked in his best 'I know you are hiding something and I'm letting you know that I know' voice.

"No," Draco answered just a bit too fast while the others hesitated, "same old, same old."

"I see." Harry was really getting pissed now, his mood swing driving him from his happy lingering afterglow to a full fledge anger tantrum, "and there is _nothing _any of you think I should know about it?"

A choir of 'No, of course not' started immediately, raising Harry's temper another notch.

Lucius was the first to notice the sudden change in Harry's tone of voice and demeanor; he had been on the receiving end of Narcissa's mood swings too many times not to notice. She would have the dinner table on fire in two seconds flat when she lost control of her emotions and she was only an average witch. Harry, on the other hand, could give Voldemort and Dumbledore a run for their money. If he lost control he would flatten the house like it was made of paper, not to mention strong emotions were bad for his grandchild.

"As a matter of fact, there is something we need to discuss," he made sure to speak over the others attracting Harry's attention and making him falter in his resolve to redecorate that part of the country, "but I would prefer to do so after dinner. It's a serious matter but not urgent, and adding indigestion wouldn't help matters."

"But what is it?" anger defused, Harry was more curious now and a bit worried thinking he had done something to annoy his family.

"It's just a matter of dealing with some unsolved details of a few... unpleasant episodes of your life, Harry, like I said serious but not urgent and since you will have to make a few decisions, I would prefer that neither yours nor my grandchild's health suffer the added stress of a poorly eaten dinner." Lucius explained without giving out too many details. He knew that would calm Harry down for the time being and a nice cup of tea with some mild calming draught and Draco's presence would do the trick afterwards.

"Oh. Of course," Harry blinked with the unexpected explanation, a thousand questions about what did they still had to discuss after so long were now running through his mind.

"Harry said he already knows the baby gender." Draco suddenly said attracting everyone's attention.

"How? I thought you didn't want healer Redwood to perform the charm yet." Asked Sirius who was dying to know the gender of his honorary grandchild.

"It's not for sure; I just had a dream..." Harry murmured blushing.

"I had a dream too when I was expecting Draco." Narcissa offered with a smile.

"And was it accurate?" Remus asked.

"Of course! I dreamt I was in a garden with Lucius and there was a crib under some trees, when we looked inside the crib we saw this beautiful baby dragon sleeping. It was pure white and when it woke it let me pick it up and looked right at me with the most gorgeous grey eyes I had ever seen, just like Lucius'. That is why we gave him the name Draco."

"Oh, that was beautiful," sighed Harry.

"What did you dream about, Harry?" Remus' voice brought Harry back to reality.

Harry and Draco started to laugh making the others raise an eyebrow to them, so they hurried to explain.

"I dreamt that baby Kate came running in the room with her toy broom saying that she and her father were going flying and then she complained about being called a baby because her brother Bernard, who was in a crib at my side, was younger than her."

"Kate? Isn't that a bit... muggle?" Lucius asked taking a bite of his Pear Clafouti with star anise serving. Harry couldn't help noticing that for someone complaining about the use of a muggle name, Lucius seemed very comfortable eating a French recipe that rouse a few eyebrows by itself for the use of Asian ingredients. He really should thank Narcissa and the elves sometime for the cooking lessons.

"Katherine, father, her name will be Katherine," Draco corrected his father, "and the boy will be Bernard and sometime in the future we will have a couple of twin boys, but we don't know their name yet."

The whole table was silent, the four adults looking shocked at the young couple.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Harry asked squeezing Draco's hand under the table.

"It is just that..." Lucius' eyes were suspiciously moist, "I... I never told you this but I had a younger sister once. She died as a child and your grandparents were so upset that we never mention her name again... our little Katherine. She was beautiful." Narcissa took Lucius' hand in hers and offered a smile to the young men.

"It's a beautiful name. Very well chosen." She said.

"I take it you knew about this," Harry stated looking at his godfathers. 

"Wh... no, not about Katherine but..." Remus gulped.

"What?" urged Harry.

"Your grandfather's name was Bernard," Sirius explained, "we just... I just don't remember his name ever coming up on a conversation before. I'm surprised, that's all."

"My grandfather's name was Bernard? You never said anything about him... or about my grandmother either. What were they like? What was her name? When did they die? What did they do for a living? Where..." 

Sirius threw his head back and laughed at Harry's eagerness. 

"Calm down, pup. One question at the time or we will never get all the answers straight."

And just like that the conversation stirred to family and the rest of the dinner was enjoyed amongst many tales of how the marauders almost drove James' parents crazy and James as a child with a few of Katherine's stories that Lucius could remember, making Harry feel all warm and happy again sitting at dinner with his family.


End file.
